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"SHIFTING GEARS" and Cooder Graw - West Texas Dynamite! |
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A year or so ago I was checking out the music
over at
www.texasmusicroundup.com, filling up my shopping cart and checking
out new sounds I hadn't heard before, and liked the description on a disc
called "Cooder Graw." I wasn't sure if it was the name of the group or
the name of the album - I couldn't find any other information about them
at that time. But the description said they were hard Texas country
honky-tonk, and that's what I like, so I was willing try 'em out unheard. I was pleased I'd taken the gamble. Their first album is cheerful, uncompromising, quirky hardcore country honky-tonk. From the start, they sort of reminded me sharply of a country version of the Arizona alt-rock group, The Refreshments; but they are pure originals, with a crisp sound and superior lyrics. I apparently wasn't the only one impressed, as "Cooder Graw" became a sensation across Texas and on Americana radio. It was without any reservations whatsoever that I picked up their second album, the live "Segundo," and the second studio release, "Shifting Gears." Cooder Graw, the band, is barely four years old, and in that time they
have burst on the live scene in Texas to enthusiastic audiences, playing
with some of country's biggest stars, such as Alabama, Willie Nelson,
Dwight Yoakam, Pat Green, Robert Earl Keen, Clint Black, and Asleep at the
Wheel. They have headlined their own shows at such Texas venues as Billy
Bob's Texas, Cowboys Red River, Antone's, and Far West Rodeo. And they
have ventured out of their native land to play in other states such as
Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Cooder Graw is Matt Martindale (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriter), Jimmy Whisenhunt (pedal steel), Joe Ammons (drums, backup vocals), Kelly Turner (acoustic and electric guitars), and Paul Baker (bass). The disc is lightly and expertly produced by Hayden Nicholas, a name familiar to Clint Black fans, and Hayden also sits in on baritone and acoustic guitar; it also features Brendon Anthony on fiddle, Cindy Cashdollar on dobro, and Pat Green on guest vocals. Cooder Graw's credo is to "Make it loud, boys!" But they're not just loud. They're just plain GOOD. This is music that can be played loud or soft - it's as rowdy as a Hank Jr. show or as sweet as a Don Williams ballad. It's as solid and real as country music can get, with the grit of their native West Texas and the purity of human emotions. "Shifting Gears," like their first album, is a collection of their
original material they were playing at live shows. Matt Martindale
writes songs that are thought-provoking, smart, intriguing, and
exceptionally real. Lyrics such as "Three kids being raised by one/She
ain't grown up - she's only twenty-one" ("New Dress") and "Look out,
Junior's in the yard/Loading his gun; he never thought it would be
this hard/Look out, Junior's in the yard/pointing that gun straight at his
Purple Heart" While occasionally there's your typical aching love song, such as
"Better Days," a getting-on-with-life-with-you-gone song, as well as the
searing "This Hurt" (guest vocalist Pat Green), which deals with love that
hurts me until I leave, it seems more that Cooder Graw looks at slices of
life's reality apart from love and loss. The title track, "Shifting
Gears," is a dry commentary on small town sheriffs who abuse their limited
power; "King of the Dairy Queen" is the lament of a High School Hero who But lest one think that anguish is all they sing about, there's the very quirky "Wicked Witch of the West," an homage to a woman who isn't QUITE the right one, and the disc ends with the absolutely delightful staple of their live shows, "Willie's Guitar," which of course pays tribute to good ol' Trigger, perhaps the most famous guitar in all of country music. "They say that men have begged for lesser things/And I guess I'm asking for the phone to ring/Don't want to be famous or be a star/Just want my name on Willie's guitar." Personally, I think if they continue on the way they're going, they have a good chance of doing just that (if they haven't already!). Check out www.coodergraw.com
for more information on Cooder Graw.
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Kathy Coleman Take Country Back April 2002