NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Country music’s Jason Boland And The Stragglers’ hard-hitting new live
set High In The Rockies: A Live Album is a collection of inventive Red
Dirt country. Crackling with the raw outlaw voltage that has made them one of
the rising forces in contemporary country, material divided between
Stragglers standards and fan favorites. Whether reveling in the Okie kickback
groove of “Tulsa Time” or re-defining the epic despair of Boland’s classic
“Bottle By My Bed,” their sound, characterized by their musicianship.
Constantly reaching out for fresh new sounds and attitudes, with nods to such
forebears as Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard underscored by the use of the
dobro, fiddle and mandolin, High In The Rockies is a mix of the progressive
and the traditional. Released via Boland’s own label, Proud Souls
Entertainment, in conjunction with the Apex Nashville label and Thirty Tigers
distribution, it was recorded on four consecutive nights at January 2010
performances in Colorado and Wyoming, and the band displays authenticity–
stubborn, proud, and unfettered. Throughout, the freewheeling creative
promise of the Red Dirt movement never goes unheeded. It has been a hard-
earned escalation, one that comes after Boland was sidelined by surgery to
remove a polyp from his throat, an incident which led not only Boland, but
the entire band–Roger Ray on steel, lead guitar and dobro; fiddler Noah
Jeffries; bassist Grant Tracy; and drummer Brad Rice–to confront a
potentially devastating turn of events. Typically, they flipped the
experience from defeat to victory, instilling a renewed energy and drive
which resulted in this extraordinary recording.
“We’ve got totally a different perspective.” Boland said. “That was heavy, a
paradigm shift — a sea change. It was the one thing that could park us all.
But I look back on it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It made us all
stop and re-evaluate life, the band, touring, but we’re back at it hard, with
a new, very achievable goal: that the most important thing is we now make
music that we truly feel, and I’m thankful for that.” As a result, Boland’s
commanding vocals, at once relaxed yet fraught with tension, pack the lyrics
with a depth of forthright veracity, a rich psychic quality that the band’s
full throttle jams easily match, and the urgency of the Stragglers’ innate,
road-seasoned dynamism and talent further heightens High In The Rockies’
already supercharged atmosphere.
A steady ascension finds the band averaging over 200 shows a year, and with
album sales exceeding 200,000, Jason Boland and the Stragglers represent a
singular, self-propelled country phenomenon. “It was time for a live album,
and also to get a photograph of the five of us now,” Boland said. “I’m really
happy with the material we chose. It stems from The Bourbon Legend and Comal
County Blue and we went back and mined a couple of our older songs, and songs
like Merle Haggard’s ‘Rainbow Stew’ and Tom Russell’s ‘Gallo Del Cielo,’ that
fans kept requesting and never let die.”
Whether questioning life’s ironies or examining his own restless discontent,
Boland’s involvement and conviction gleams with the undeniable capability of
a natural born honky-tonk communicator. Loaded with banging drama, wry
observations and soul-deep expression, High In The Rockies documents a
transformative period for the band and continues the career trajectory of
Jason Boland and the Stragglers.. “We got over being young and the entrapment
of limitations on your instrument, vocals, writing–and the entrapments of
life, love, chemicals.” Boland said. “I’ve reached the point where I don’t
over-think it and simply do the music honestly. I don’t care about fame or
the pop culture machine–you’ll never see us on ‘Nashville Star’ or ‘American
Idol.’ We look to the populist grassroots, we’re not in it for fame and cash.
Seriously, it’s all about living free.”
Jason Boland & The Stragglers
Availability: Call for Availability
http://www.thestragglers.com
Agency
Red 11 Music
Agency Relationship: Exclusive
209 10th Avenue South, Suite 334
Nashville, TN 37203 United States
Phone: 615-457-2414
Fax: 615-457-1659
http://www.red11music.com
Responsible Agent: Jon Folk
Direct Phone: 615-457-2414
Fax: 615-457-1659
E-Mail: jfolk@red11music.com
Managment
Proud Souls Entertainment
2110 South Lamar Boulevard Suite I
Austin, TX 78704 United States
Phone: 512-373-8511
Fax: 512-233-5192
Responsible Manager: Cory McDaniel
Direct Phone: 512-373-8511
Fax: 512-233-5192
E-Mail: cory@thestragglers.com
Record Label
Proud Souls Entertainment
2110 South Lamar Boulevard Suite I
Austin, TX 78704 United States
Phone: 512-373-8511
Fax: 512-233-5192
–by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
