WELL, WE'RE DEFINITELY THE COUNTRY BAND that appeals to rock fans--I think what would be considered today's "country" fans probably hate us. We are pretty much an old-school Honky Tonk Country band (Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, George Jones) with plenty of rockabilly/rock & roll (Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Chuck Berry) and 70's country-rock influences (Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Byrds, Neil Young/Buffalo Springfield) occasionally filtered through the dark lenses of the Ramones--we do a version of Country Roads that is Ramones-play-John-Denver--blistering and oddly appropriate.

Quite a few of Burlington's rock and bluegrass players have played with us at one time or another, and the line-up changes, sometimes from gig to gig, depending on who is booked already. Gordon Stone and I originally started doing duo gigs that got the repertoire together, then Mark Ransom (Zanzibar, N-Zones, X-Rays, Fortune Tellers, Barbacoa, etc) and I did some Everly Brothers-style singing together and gathered some more of the 50's-rock songs, eventually enlisting Gene White (fiddle) and Robert Crenshaw (Marshall Crenshaw's brother and original drummer) to round out the band.

Danny Coane (Throbulators, Radio Rangers, and now Starline Rhythm Boys) was our electric guitarist for a time. Bill Mullins has been the main electric guitarist for the last few years, with a fair amount of sitting in by Mark Spencer (Pinhead, Blood Oranges, Lisa Loeb, Jay Farrar, Kelly Willis, Whateverly Brothers). We've had alot of drummers--including Pascal Spengemann (Bag Of Panties, Missy Bly, James Kochalka Superstar), Bill Mullins, Phil Carr (viperHouse), Russ Lawton--who still joins us quite a bit (Trey Anastasio Band), Neil Cleary (The Pants, Stupid Club, Whateverly Brothers), Jeremy Frederick (Wide Wail). Likewise, Gordon Stone joins us when he can on Pedal Steel. Right now the main line-up is myself singing and mostly playing acoustic guitar, Mark Ransom on bass and vocals, Bill Mullins, electric guitar and some vocals and whoever we get to play the drums: Pascal, Neil, Russ, Phil or Jeremy.

As for rock bands that appeal to country crowds--I would cite Construction Joe first and foremost, although they don't seem to playing out much anymore. They are great songwriters, and are difficult to categorize, but they definitely rock the country here and there. A band that seems to have parted ways is (was?) Red-Headed Strangers, also country-leaning rock, and the Starline Rhythm Boys are Burlington's super-vintage HonkyTonk Rock-a-Billy band, fronted by Danny Coane.

-- Brett Hughes, e-mail messages, January 26, 2003