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Rooted on the Edge of the Heartland

By ANN POWERS
The New York Times - August 10, 2000

Rock ‘n’ roll demands some degree of self-exile. The music’s idiosyncratic champions do not fit easily into families, whether biological or ideological. Yet many still want to claim a legacy to root their visions, and especially as they grow older, many seek images in red, white and blue.

There’s a whole subculture, Americana, devoted to the outcasts’ reclamation of country and blues music. Steve Earle, the Ralph Nader of country music, is its patriarch. Artists like the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown’s Ryan Adams, both of whom have new releases, have found artistic success by stressing craft and tradition over trendiness. Sometimes the strum and twang seem studied, but Americana artists offer a respite from the mainstream’s high-concept hard sell.

Even this homesteader’s camp, however, has its outsiders. Four of the best Americana-flavored albums of the summer are by artists who aren’t the darlings of the post-punk bootstrap set. They’ve all long mined the tension between rock iconoclasm and the urge to connect to a legacy. These voices from the edge of the heartland enhance the traditions they honor in music that invites listeners to contemplate their own relationship to rootlessness.

Lonesome Cowboy

Chip and Tony Kinman have taken a twisted path to end up in a niche that always suited them. These brothers first gained notice in the California punk band the Dils, then practically founded the Americana style in the raucous Rank and File. A detour into proto-electronica, as Blackbird, didn’t logically lead to Cowboy Nation, but the duo must have missed those 10-gallon hats, because they’re wearing them now.

Cowboy Nation is a trio (Jamie Spidle plays drums) enacting a costume drama
of western music. The band’s originals detail barroom gunfights and storm-chasing on the prairie, and the covers are chestnuts: “ack in the Saddle,” “Shenandoah.” Yet for all its careful re-enactment, Cowboy Nation is direct and unpretentious. Chip Kinman’s rumble of a voice embodies lonesomeness, and the trio’s taciturn energy lends color to the legends it relates.

Making Blues New

Chris Whitley is an expert at finding something new in the exile’s stance. A Texas bluesman who incorporates East Village noise-rock into his own songs, Mr. Whitley gives new faces to the demons of blues cliché. On this amazing exercise in quiet intensity, he collaborates with the jazz-fusion rhythm section Billy Martin and Chris Wood and the producer Craig Street in taking a knife to a collection of classic rock and blues songs.

Bookended by “Spanish Harlem Incident” and “4th Time Around” by Bob Dylan — rock’s original roots-ripper — “Perfect Day” also features songs by Lou Reed and the Doors, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Mr. Whitley’s eerie, tender voice dominates, often obscuring his fleet guitar and the rhythm section’s delicate rumble. What emerges is a portrait of introspection that recalls other famous loners from Nick Drake to Chet Baker.

A Country Woman

As a member of the Picketts, Christy McWilson specialized in rootsy fun. But the band never got far beyond the Seattle bar scene, and Ms. McWilson endured several dark years of the soul. This album is a burst out of inertia, an excellent account of the realistic life.

With help from her many friends, including the Blasters’ Dave Alvin, who produced, Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M., Syd Straw and Rhett Miller, Ms. McWilson offers finely wrought versions of her worldly-wise songs. Her alto, in classic country fashion, mixes equal parts yearning and resignation, and her accounts of motherhood and middle age rank her as a star in the rapidly developing subgenre of grown-up gal music. Fans of Amy Rigby and Patti Larkin shouldn’t miss this album, where they’ll find more evidence of artistically fruitful adulthood.

All-Americana Classics

If one path of Americana leads back to the Kinman brothers, another lands at the open kitchen door of Jason Ringenberg, the prototypical country punk, who still sometimes leads his band of happy renegades, the Scorchers. This album is a barn raiser more than a barn burner. Its lovely songs, centered around Mr. Ringenberg’s whippoorwill croon, esteem family, history, and, yes, Christianity with characteristic aplomb.

Nothing out of the ordinary jumps out of songs like the gospel stomper “Under Your Command,” the Depression-era ballad “The Price of Progress,” or Mr. Ringenberg’s ode to his daughter, “For Addie Rose.” But the music and Mr. Ringenberg’s voice are so good-naturedly alive that the themes, in classic Americana fashion, are renewed.


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News Meet The Scorchers Learn Back to Articles > Look		Rooted on the Edge of the Heartland By ANN POWERS The New York Times - August 10, 2000 Copyright 2000-2004 The New York Times Company Rock ‘n’ roll demands some degree of self-exile. The music’s idiosyncratic champions do not fit easily into families, whether biological or ideological. Yet many still want to claim a legacy to root their visions, and especially as they grow older, many seek images in red, white and blue. There’s a whole subculture, Americana, devoted to the outcasts’ reclamation of country and blues music. Steve Earle, the Ralph Nader of country music, is its patriarch. Artists like the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown’s Ryan Adams, both of whom have new releases, have found artistic success by stressing craft and tradition over trendiness. Sometimes the strum and twang seem studied, but Americana artists offer a respite from the mainstream’s high-concept hard sell. Even this homesteader’s camp, however, has its outsiders. Four of the best Americana-flavored albums of the summer are by artists who aren’t the darlings of the post-punk bootstrap set. They’ve all long mined the tension between rock iconoclasm and the urge to connect to a legacy. These voices from the edge of the heartland enhance the traditions they honor in music that invites listeners to contemplate their own relationship to rootlessness. Lonesome Cowboy Chip and Tony Kinman have taken a twisted path to end up in a niche that always suited them. These brothers first gained notice in the California punk band the Dils, then practically founded the Americana style in the raucous Rank and File. A detour into proto-electronica, as Blackbird, didn’t logically lead to Cowboy Nation, but the duo must have missed those 10-gallon hats, because they’re wearing them now. Cowboy Nation is a trio (Jamie Spidle plays drums) enacting a costume drama of western music. The band’s originals detail barroom gunfights and storm-chasing on the prairie, and the covers are chestnuts: “ack in the Saddle,” “Shenandoah.” Yet for all its careful re-enactment, Cowboy Nation is direct and unpretentious. Chip Kinman’s rumble of a voice embodies lonesomeness, and the trio’s taciturn energy lends color to the legends it relates. Making Blues New Chris Whitley is an expert at finding something new in the exile’s stance. A Texas bluesman who incorporates East Village noise-rock into his own songs, Mr. Whitley gives new faces to the demons of blues cliché. On this amazing exercise in quiet intensity, he collaborates with the jazz-fusion rhythm section Billy Martin and Chris Wood and the producer Craig Street in taking a knife to a collection of classic rock and blues songs. Bookended by “Spanish Harlem Incident” and “4th Time Around” by Bob Dylan — rock’s original roots-ripper — “Perfect Day” also features songs by Lou Reed and the Doors, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Mr. Whitley’s eerie, tender voice dominates, often obscuring his fleet guitar and the rhythm section’s delicate rumble. What emerges is a portrait of introspection that recalls other famous loners from Nick Drake to Chet Baker. A Country Woman As a member of the Picketts, Christy McWilson specialized in rootsy fun. But the band never got far beyond the Seattle bar scene, and Ms. McWilson endured several dark years of the soul. This album is a burst out of inertia, an excellent account of the realistic life. With help from her many friends, including the Blasters’ Dave Alvin, who produced, Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M., Syd Straw and Rhett Miller, Ms. McWilson offers finely wrought versions of her worldly-wise songs. Her alto, in classic country fashion, mixes equal parts yearning and resignation, and her accounts of motherhood and middle age rank her as a star in the rapidly developing subgenre of grown-up gal music. Fans of Amy Rigby and Patti Larkin shouldn’t miss this album, where they’ll find more evidence of artistically fruitful adulthood. All-Americana Classics If one path of Americana leads back to the Kinman brothers, another lands at the open kitchen door of Jason Ringenberg, the prototypical country punk, who still sometimes leads his band of happy renegades, the Scorchers. This album is a barn raiser more than a barn burner. Its lovely songs, centered around Mr. Ringenberg’s whippoorwill croon, esteem family, history, and, yes, Christianity with characteristic aplomb. Nothing out of the ordinary jumps out of songs like the gospel stomper “Under Your Command,” the Depression-era ballad “The Price of Progress,” or Mr. Ringenberg’s ode to his daughter, “For Addie Rose.” But the music and Mr. Ringenberg’s voice are so good-naturedly alive that the themes, in classic Americana fashion, are renewed. © 2000-2004 — The New York Times Company — All Rights Reserved

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