6 String Drag - Roots Rock 'N' Roll (2015)

2015-03-03T17:00:55Z

6 String Drag - Roots Rock 'N' Roll (2015)


1. Drive Around Town (3:22)
2. Oooeeoooeeooo (3:19)
3. Give up the Night (3:00)
4. Kingdom of Gettin' It Wrong (2:54)
5. Precious Things (4:24)
6. Happier Times (2:07)
7. Choppin' Block (3:54)
8. Me & My Disease (2:38)
9. Sylvia (4:10)
10. Hard Times, High Times (3:35)
11. I Miss the Drive-In (5:11)

Matt Douglas - Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone)
Ray Duffey - Drums, Percussion
Rob Farris - Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Rob Keller - Bass (Electric), Bass (Upright), Vocals
Keenan McKenzie - Sax (Tenor)
Jason Merritt - Vocals (Background)
Scotty Miller - Guitars, Slide Guitar
Kenny Roby - Guitars, Percussion, Vocals
Paul Rogers - Trumpet
Dave Wright - Fender Rhodes, Piano, Toy Piano, Trombone

Some bands that reunite after a decade and a half away from the spotlight have to deal with the legacy of the music they left behind in their first incarnation, but that's not so much of an issue for 6 String Drag, who cut one good independent album in 1994 and a very good effort co-produced by Steve Earle, High Hat, in 1997 before fading away a year later. Unless you're from South Carolina or were an obsessive alt-country fan in the late '90s, there's a good chance you never heard 6 String Drag in the first place, which means the group's 2015 reunion set, Roots Rock 'n' Roll, gets to stand on its own merits rather than serving as the long-lost and fiercely awaited follow-up to High Hat. That said, it's a fine thing to be able to say this is one reunion effort that works both ways -- while Roots Rock 'n' Roll lacks the hard-edged and punchy production Earle and Ray Kennedy brought to High Hat, instead aiming for a looser, live-in-the-studio sound, from a standard of songwriting and performance this edition of 6 String Drag sounds every bit as fine as the band did in the '90s, and their fusion of rock & roll, Southern soul, and Dixie-fried twang feels as relevant and effective as ever. If Kenny Roby sounded like an old soul in 1997, he still does in 2015, and that works to his favor as the loose-limbed boogie of "Oooeeoooeeooo," the horn-infused rock of "Kingdom of Gettin' It Wrong," and the suitably greasy blues figures of "Choppin' Block" roll as correct here as they did when Roby was almost two decades younger. (And it's a good bet that the younger Roby couldn't have delivered the rueful "I Miss the Drive-In" with the same authority he brings to this performance.) And the core of 6 String Drag -- Roby on vocals and guitar, Scotty Miller on lead guitar, Rob Keller on bass, and Ray Duffey on drums -- delivers the goods, sounding loosely tight in the great Southern manner, and knowing just when to lay back and when to hit the gas. In short, Roots Rock 'n' Roll should thoroughly please fans who remember 6 String Drag's all-too-brief day in the sun, and if you're not familiar with the band's earlier recordings, this should still connect as clever, heartfelt rock & roll steeped in American musical traditions. It rocks with a steady roll, and that doesn't happen nearly enough on plastic these days, from either veterans or young gunslingers. ---Mark Deming, Rovi

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6 String Drag - Top Of The World (2018)

2018-05-28T13:14:47Z

6 String Drag - Top Of The World (2018)


1 	Never Turn My Back On You Again 	
2 	Wrong Girl 	
3 	Small Town Punks 	
4 	Top Of The World 	
5 	Every Time She Walks On By 	
6 	Let’s Fool Around Til The End Of The World 	
7 	Waste Of Time 	
8 	I Wish You Would 	
9 	Be Llke You 	
10 	Jennifer Wren & The Crow I Know 	
11 	Robert & Lucy

Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Rob Keller
Drums, Percussion – Dan Davis 
Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Matt Douglas
Guitar [High String Guitar], Backing Vocals – Jason Merritt
Organ [Hammond B-3 Organ], Electric Piano, Keyboards – John Ginty
Guitar, Keyboards, Trumpet, Glockenspiel, Toy Piano, Backing Vocals – Luis Rodriguez
Vocals, Guitar, Backing Vocals – Kenny Roby

Not many bands can pick up where they left off after 17 years and make an album that stands with their best work. Fewer still can reconvene three years after that and do it again, but 6 String Drag scored a winning comeback effort with 2015's Roots Rock 'n' Roll, and they've made lightning strike twice with 2018's Top of the World. If anything, Top of the World sounds even more energetic and committed than this band did on Roots Rock 'n' Roll. The production by Jason Merritt (in tandem with the band) feels more muscular this time out, and rockers like "Small Town Punks" and "Robert & Lucy" kick with authority and a potent sense of rowdy fun. The arrangements put the emphasis on the guitars, as it should be, but the keyboards and horns that dress up several of the tracks expand the dynamics of the tunes and make the performances all the more evocative. Kenny Roby's vocals are passionate and full-bodied, with his smoky twang showing enough flexibility to embrace the country, R&B, and rock influences that power these songs. And Roby's songwriting doesn't miss a trick, documenting youthful misbehavior and the difficulties of adult relationships with equal intelligence; he still sounds utterly awestruck by the beautiful woman in "Every Time She Walks on By" just as he's trying to figure out how to win her over in "Let's Fool Around Til the End of the World." In their original run in the '90s, 6 String Drag were regarded as a better-than-average alt-country act; with Roots Rock 'n' Roll and now Top of the World, they've shown that they're more than that in their second act, and this is mature, heartfelt, and resonant rock & roll that's also plenty of fun. ---Mark Deming, AllMusic Review

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Rock, Metal

6 String Drag - Roots Rock 'N' Roll (2015)

6 String Drag - Top Of The World (2018)