EVERY NOW and again, a band supposedly trapped within the confines of a specialist genre will emerge as infinitely more talented than their peers, jump into the media spotlight overnight and revitalise the aforementioned genre for years to come. BR5-49, the debut LP from the Nashville-based country n western outfit of the same name, certainly didn t sound like one of the decade s most important albums on first (or even second) listen, but that just goes to show.
The BRs specialise in the sort of tears-in-your-beer country fare beloved by honky-tonk bar-bands all over the States, and their peerless mastery of the form is allied to an energy level that would put The Prodigy to shame. But despite the twang-core label the American rock press have attached to the band, their general modus operandi is basically a traditionalist one, more Hank Williams than the Meat Puppets. Would the band see themselves as punk in any sense?
Ah don t think so, drawls vocalist/guitarist Gary Bennett, we re just on the same vibe as a punk rock band, we go out there and play hard. I mean, I d go and watch punk bands at the X-Ray Cafi in Oregon, and it was a blast, even though the bands weren t that great. I d sit there at the back drinking a beer, watchin all the kids go nuts and thinking, Why doesn t that happen with country music? And it does, now, at our shows. I think in as far as that anti-establishment feeling and that determination that we re gonna do our own thing, that is what we have in common with punk rock.
Certainly, the band s defiantly hick origins make them a lot more genuinely C n W, and a lot less inclined to self-conscious corniness, than most cowpunk bands (the bulk of whom clearly love country music but seem slightly ashamed to be playing it.) Which is maybe why they ve fit in so well with Nashville, ostensibly the country music capital of America, and certainly the nerve-centre of its record industry.
Having cut their teeth playing five-hour sets to hungry Nashville audiences every night for tips, the band soon garnered a red-hot reputation which made it impossible for major labels to ignore them, and they were quickly snapped up by Arista, who promised to adopt a strictly hands-off approach. How do the band feel about Nashville in general, given that most of the true country greats, from Cash through Nelson to Yoakam, have generally found the place repellent?
Actually, we feel pretty good about it, states fiddle player Don Herron, those guys have been real nice to us. Y know, when Waylon and Willie (Jennings and Nelson) first came out, country was going through a real bad time, every act in Nashville was being pushed into this sort of Vegas showbiz, and Waylon and Willie just went, The hell with this, we re goin back to Texas , and it turned out to be the best thing that coulda happened to them.
That s the perfect example of somebody going look, this is an art form, this is how we like to do it, and if you re not into it we re gonna go somewhere they do like it . Which is pretty much what happened with us. I think Nashville learnt from its mistakes back then, they lost a lot of face and said to themselves, hold on, this is something we have to kinda look at . . .
How, then, do the BRs feel about the bulk of modern-day country music? Predictably enough, they re big admirers of Dale Watson, Dave Alvin, Big Sandy and other like-minded wildmen. More surprising still is their sneaking regard for Garth Brooks . . .
Ah think Garth s first album was great, states Don. There isn t a trace of sarcasm in the guy s voice. He isn t even smirking. He s turned kinda bubblegum, sure, I preferred the early stuff with just him and his fiddle. But hell, he s doin what he loves, just like we are. He grew up . . . he d go to Eagles concerts, Aerosmith concerts . . . (tolerant, non-committal shrug) . . . that s his vibe, y know? He s doin what he loves, we re doin what we love, we re all in the same world and we re all still here.
This is the sort of statement that might sound utterly vomitous if it emerged from the mouth of, say, Michael Jackson, but there s a genuinely touching sincerity about the way Don says it. It s tempting, and incredibly easy, to attract attention by rubbishing your rivals music, but these guys seem completely above all that. Their views on the terrifying phenomenon of Line Dancing are similarly liberal . . .
Well, ah don t care for it, admits Gary, but it s just fact. There s people that like doing that kinda thing, and there ain t no changing that.
Well, surely you could make it illegal?
Yeah, but then what are all those people gonna do? he objects, quite reasonably. Everybody needs a place to go.
BR5-49, like Canned Heat before them, are aware of the importance of their role as popularisers of a rich musical heritage. What we care about way more than getting rich or famous, explains Gary, is opening doors for people, where hopefully they ll look back on our records a hundred years from now and go wow, this is history in the same way people listen to Hank now. n
BR5-49 play Midnight At The Olympia on Fri 11th and The Limelight, Belfast on Sun 13th April.