Country Westerns Rock Starwood in Solitude in 'I'm Not Ready' [Fresh Vid]

The Starwood Amphitheater. Pink Floyd’s Live in Pompeii. College radio of the ’80s and early ’90s. Silver Jews. If any of these things mean something to you, you’ll enjoy the music video for “I’m Not Ready,” a heartland-punk corker from Music City trio Country Westerns’ forthcoming self-titled debut. Helmed by Nashville filmmaker Michael Graziano, the clip finds the band of local underground lifers taking an urban-exploration trip to the ruins of the Starwood, a place where many a rock’n’roll memory was made between 1985 and 2006.

Not much remains of the disused amphitheater down in Antioch, but for the four-minute runtime of “I’m Not Ready,” singer-guitarist Joey Plunket, bassist Sabrina Rush and drummer Brian Kotzur soak in its last vestiges. Marching single-file through the rubble and untamed brush, the members come to a clearing as the briskly-paced tune gets going.

Where the stage once stood, their instruments and amps await and they assume position for an audience of zero, standing far apart and gazing off into space but staying firmly in the pocket as they see the song’s Westerberg-ian bluster and Byrds-like jangle through. A loosely-played, part-sung-part-spoken bridge that initially seems like the start of a new track seamlessly winds its way back, via Plunket and Rush’s melodious guitar-and-bass interplay and Kotzur’s punchy, assertive drumming, to one last triumphant verse and chorus before signing off.

Country Westerns is out June 26 on Fat Possum Records. If your vinyl collection includes many a Matador or Drag City record, the group’s credentials alone are enough to justify a pre-order — if not for you, then for the indie rock lover in your life. Kotzur kept the beat on Silver Jews’ Tanglewood Numbers, David Berman’s 2004 made-in-Nashville masterpiece, and through the band's dissolution in 2009. Rush (whose Purple Mountains shirt in the “I’m Not Ready” video is a subtle tribute to the late Berman) is an alum of badass Louisville ensemble State Champion, and Matt Sweeney, the mustachioed Chavez frontman who has worked with everyone from Bonnie “Prince” Billy to Billy Corgan over the years, produced the 11-song LP at his NYC studio.

You feel for Country Westerns like you do any band with record-release and tour plans thwarted by the pandemic. Yet in a sense the heaviness of the moment makes their sound’s fuzzy familiarity and underdog spirit feel all the more comforting, necessary and vital.