South Austin based band Gravy Boat (Jerry Renshaw on vocals and guitar, Rick Carney on vocals and guitar, Bob Williams on bass and Paul Soliz on drums) have come up with the solution for music fans who's loyalties are equally divided between the sounds of traditional honky tonkin' country and hard hitting guitar driven rock. They offer up a disc that alternates both sounds on their latest release Bars & Stars. Rare is the disc that doesn't contain at least a ballad or two. Not here. These boys come to the party playing hard from start to finish.

Bars & Stars opens in classic shuffle style with a tale of working class life in the honky tonker "Upper Crust." "Used To Think" is a terrific bluegrass tinged two-stepper singing the praises of marital bliss. With resignation, the conclusion is drawn that the place a couple's trouble's are usually found is at the "Bottom Of Every Bottle," another spirited two-stepper. They offer up a trucker's tale "Rubber Hits The Road" that's pleasingly true to the tradition of classic truck driving songs- including those way-down-deep vocals that often approach falling right over the lowest end of the vocal register. Gravy Boat delivers a couple of edgier outlaw country cuts with the chugging chick-a-boom "I'm Coming Home" and a soulfully gritty, rocking cover of Billy Joe Shaver's "Black Rose." 

Among the more traditional honky tonk fare, the boys intersperse hard hitting southern rockers which they deliver with a no holds barred ferocity. "Nothing Ever Happens Here" is a jangly country-rocker that looks at a small town loser's indifference at his life. "12x6" is a clever, hard rocking tale of a bank robber at the end of the line facing being judged by 12 or carried by 6. The outstanding "Losing My Mind" is a hauntingly dark and powerfully gritty cry of desperation, while "Mississippi Drug Dog" is a swampy tale of a drug bust. Two more standouts could best be described as 'punkabilly,' driving rockers with a country edge delivered with the passion and frenetic energy of punk. The infectious "Lonely Weekends" has a rockabilly groove Gravy Boat kicks up into overdrive with some wicked guitar licks. "Beer," in all it's thrashing glory, includes the same rockabilly element, but this one's done in blistering doubletime with snarling vocals.       

Gravy Boat bridges the styles by alternating their straight up honky tonkers with their high octane rockers, which makes for an eclectic mix that results in Bars & Stars being a one stop shopping disc that works very effectively for those who are fans of both straight up country and it's southern rocking country cousin.

www.gravyboattx.com

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack October 2003