Jason Ringenberg – Best Tracks And Side Tracks 1979-2007

Behind his rock-your-face-off exterior, Jason Ringenberg was always a lot smarter than his aw-shucks demeanor suggested. So having climbed Himalayan-scale heights of metallic country soul with Jason & the Scorchers, he has wisely followed more of a troubadourial course as a solo act. But he can still rock it out with the best of them, and this 30-track retrospective of his solo catalogue ranks right up there with his Scorchers stuff. Opening with a chiming remake of the 1985 Scorchers standard “Shop It Around”, the set hits most of his solo high points (including “Tuskegee Pride” and Jim Roll’s “Eddie Rode The Orphan Train”) plus choice rarities, down to Ringenberg’s pre-Scorchers band Shakespeare’s Riot. The wild card is Farmer Jason, Ringenberg’s children’s-music alter ego, who turns up on disc two. “Punk Rock Skunk” and “Lovely Christmas” will probably have you snickering as much as Ringenberg himself.