Friday, August 28, 2009
Reviews Dixie Whiskey Go Country-er
Posted by Seth Graves on Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Since then, the dudes in Dixie Whiskey have undergone a makeover of Maury Povich proportions. Bob and Jon have traded in their flat irons and skinny jeans for trucker hats and Wranglers, their bratty snarl for a goofy drawl, and have teamed up with a couple more good ole boys to trade in DW's formerly rambunctious shit-kicking fury for a full-on honky-tonk groove slick enough to do a line off if you still wanted to.
The aim of this package is pretty clear. These cats definitely want to get back in their own tour bus and see themselves on TV again - only this time on CMT, not TRL. Done with pleasing the mall punks and bored-but-buyable teens of the suburbs, their first full length instead offers 10 songs custom tailored for Middle America; a straw-chewin', tobacco-spittin' soundtrack built strictly for pickup truck speakers blasting outside theTastee Freeze.
Tunes like "Sold My Soul (to the Honky Tonk)" and "This Barstool's My Tombstone" sport a boot-scoot boogie that's more aligned with Kenny Chesney than their former obvious Stones influence. And of course, any country act worth its weight in gold records needs a tear-in-beer anthem like "Sometimes It Takes All Night" or "Steady Hand of the Tiller." The production is sheen, but it's not overdone--and the fact that Jon Decious' voice isn't quite as pristine as your average radio country crooner makes these tunes at least a little rough around the edges (in a good way).
I'm by no means a fan or follower of mainstream country music, so I can't rightfully say one way or another how well these tracks fare against what's flying off the shelves at Walmart these days. Hence, whether they'll find their pot of gold at the end of Music Row is beyond my scope of expertise. What I do know is this is actually a consistent set of solid jams worthy of a listen.
Dixie Whiskey commemorates the release of this thing tonight at The 5 Spot with Joshua Black Wilkins and Joel J. Dahl opening.
Comments (14)
Showing 1-14 of 14
this is a really great band. saw them last nite @ the 5 spot. will go see again.
like
dislike
These guys just write great songs. I wouldn't say Kenny Chesney style, and I mean that in a good way. It's more of a new school take on Gram Parsons or someone of that nature. This record is really, really great. A more polished version of their EP (I liked that, too) and some better songs. "Wheels on the Wind" sounds like it is already a classic. "Steeldrivin' Woman" and "Welcome Home, Kentucky" are also favorites. I bet some big things will happen for this band, and they should.
This was a great show last night. Gotta love a band that buys the whole room a round of whiskey shots.
hold on i'm not finished... it is not pretentious it is just good! not trying to hard, not trying too little.
why is everyone so excited? Is it because the live show is incredible? I feel like the record is lacking in delivery.
Their live show has become really excellent. They're much tighter now and sound huge. I think they have six or seven people in the band. I think the records sounds great too. Their songs are getting much better.
Vote here for best Band of the Week
Slideshows
Top Commenters
