Mo Robson Band
Self Titled
Gringo Records


by Al Kunz

About thirty seconds into the first listen of "Jim Beam Whiskey," the opening track to the Mo Robson Band's self-titled disc, I thought, "Oh no, not another one of these." You know the type I mean. They sprinkle key words throughout their songs that will provoke a reaction from their inattentive fans, but don't really say anything except party, party, party. The lyrics I'd heard were, "We like to drive downtown / just to see if we can start a fight / / But that Jim beam Whiskey and Lonestar beer / always treated us well / It was that Jim Beam Whiskey and that Lonestar Beer." Just like a twenty-one year-old frat boy, I hadn't been paying attention. I'm sure when they perform this in a Texas roadhouse half the audience lift their bottles of Lonestar or Shiner Bock and sing along on the appropriate lines, but this tune goes a bit deeper than that; not preaching, not condemning, but pointing out that there's more to life than raisin' hell. Call it a message of moderation -- recognizing when to kick-up your heels and when to just kick back. Had I been paying attention, this message is setup very well in the beginning stanzas.

Yeah we may have done some things back then
That we might not should have done
Though we never meant to hurt nobody
We were just boys havin' fun

And most memories from those days
They don't play back all that clear
And we owe it all to Jim Beam Whiskey
And Lonestar Beer

Mo Robson plays acoustic guitar, harmonica, and sings lead vocals. He also wrote all ten of the songs on the disc, two in collaboration with band co-founder and lead guitarist Jake Jackson. Both of these co-writes have similar themes. In "Let's Hit the Road," he tells his significant other that the time has come for them to make a fresh start in a new town, somewhere without the same faces and "the same old situations." Hitting the road in a more figurative sense is the subject of "Say I'm Leavin'." The narrator has tried to change, attempted to hold his relationship together, but the backlash from his occasional slips convinces him it's time to leave.

I've been walkin' on your thin thin line
Danced in the shadows
But now I sit here tired

Seems like I'm always on the run
Though I get nowhere
And there's no place to hide

I just end up back here again
Where I don't want to be
Shackled to the wall inside

Yet I say I'm leaving'
Tomorrow I'll be gone
It's the same old dance to the same damn song

The band was formed in late 1998, with former Nashvillian Rick Merriman replacing the original drummer in early '99. The current line-up was set when bassist Kevin Poe joined later that year. All the band members are experienced musicians, primarily in rock bands, although the artists they cite as musical influences are largely old-school country artists like Johnny Cash and Hank Sr., or contemporary alt-country and outlaw acts like Steve Earle and David Allan Coe that fall in the gray area between rock and country. Musically the band excels at producing the rocking country result these influences lead us to expect. They hit on the normal country themes of love, drinking, and driving (skipping Mama, trains, and prison). Sometimes they find a new way to say the things others have said before and, at times, add a completely new perspective.

On "Beers Ain't Cheaper," Robson sings about the plight of the workingman. Working all week for the freedom to do the things he likes, he laments that "it's too bad this money don't come free," while in the back of his mind he's "singing an old Johnny Paycheck song."

Well every day this job is just the same old thing
Eight to five and I'm waitin' on that bell to ring
And my hands are blistered
And they're calloused, cracked, and bruised
But I've got to have that money
For the things I like to do

And you know
These beers ain't gettin' cheaper
And I'm drinkin' more than a few
And the women seem to want just a little more

Texas is full of bands treading the same path as the Mo Robson Band, perfecting their craft in every watering hole and icehouse between Beaumont and El Paso. With their self-titled debut, the Mo Robson Band have demonstrated that they are worthy of inclusion in this fraternity, at times indicating the potential to break away from the pack. Fans of Texas artists such as Jack Ingram and Charlie Robison, artists who play country music with a dash of rock sensibility, should give this disc a try.

*Visit www.morobsonband.com to test drive a few tracks. The Mo Robson Band can be purchased at www.lonestarmusic.com

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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