Jason and the Scorchers: A BLAZING GRACE

DAVE LARSEN; The Dayton Daily News
March 3, 1995

Copyright 1995 - 2004 The Dayton Daily News

Jason and the Scorchers’ 1992 greatest hits collection was titled Are You Ready For the Country? The problem with the pioneering cow-punk band was that country music wasn’t ready for them. Times have changed. Fortunately, Jason and the Scorchers hasn’t.
The band returns after a five-year hiatus from recording and touring with A Blazing Grace. The album reunites the original lineup - singer Jason Ringenberg, guitarist Warner Hodges, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer Perry Baggs - and retains raw fire of the Scorchers’ original sound.
The bracing 10-track set barnstorms through revved-up romps (Cry By Night Operator), twangy country (200 Proof Lovin’), acoustic ballads (Where Bridges Never Burn) and rousing, working-class anthems (One More Day a Weekend). Its highlight, however, is a punkish take on John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads that turns the homesick whine into a vigorous command.
Ringenberg marries the sincerity of Hank Williams with the manic energy of Iggy Pop, while Hodges draws from an arsenal of licks that’s as well-steeped in Keith Richards as Chet Atkins. Are you ready for alternative country? Fire up A Blazing Grace.

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