Almost two decades of being a band that wasn’t together is over. 6 String Drag is back with a new record of roots rock and roll called, fittingly, Roots Rock ‘N’ Roll. Most of us found these guys through their Steve Earle-produced record High Hat from 1997, which has deservedly been compared to some of the alt-country greats. I rediscovered 6 String Drag recently, playing inside a shed, doing an acoustic version of one of the songs from this new album, “Kingdom of Gettin’ It Wrong.” It was strange, the guys were older now and, well, they were in a shed playing a song. Seemed a little tight in that shed, but the song sounded great. Intrigued by “Kingdom,” I wrote and asked for a copy, and The Royal Potato Family folks were nice enough to oblige.
This record is a bit like a time machine, and not the two-decade kind. It’s closer to six decades, back before rock found lysergic acid diethylamide. Things were wild but innocent. Woodstock hadn’t happened, aspirin was what was called “the Pill,” and nobody had heard of Vietnam. As Kenny Roby (the 6 String Drag frontman and songwriter) says, these songs “are about being teenagers, hanging out and passing time in small towns.” Yeah, that’s it. Roby tips his hat to Doug Sahm as an inspiration, saying that he is “one of our heroes.” I get that, too. They were trying to take it back, all the way, just to the point where it was rock, without all the embroidery. Mission accomplished.
Favorite cuts for me on the record, besides “Kingdom,” are “Oooeeoooeeooo” (how can you have a roots rock record without something like this?) and “Sylvia” (did you know that Sylvia rhymes with kill ya?). I like “Choppin’ Block” a lot, though it is a bit muddier than the others, sounding like a late night session somewhere south of Memphis, maybe all the way down the river. Speaking of sessions, the band put this album together in four days, recording live to tape. Just like they used to do it. It sounds real, it sounds fun, it sounds good. Get a copy and I’ll meet you at the drive-in.
Roots Rock ‘N’ Roll releases February 10 via Royal Potato Family.
