Midnight Backhand and Hot Buttered Rum

by Lindsay Nelson

Traveling to more populous areas of the country over the holidays, I always return with a renewed appreciation for those things that are unique to this little corner of the world. Sure, every county has its share of local bands, independently owned coffee shops, and the lucky ones even have independent free weeklies. What makes Durango interesting is the quantity and quality of our citizens’ creative pursuits and the places we can go to appreciate them. Plus, when you hit the local-band saturation point, you can actually catch several visiting acts on most weekends. If not for this and other cultural amusements, this old jerkwater town would really drive us nuts.

In addition to the fairly common appearance of the Lawn Chair Kings this Friday at the Summit (with The Freeman Social), you can get a taste of the homegrown tonight at Steamworks, where Tyson Snyder (you may know him from Dialogue) busts a rhyme with guests 8-Bit Cynics, in honor of the occasion of Snyder’s debut CD release. The “Die to Pretend” release party kicks off around 10 p.m. with a $2 cover. It’s also Pint Night, so if you’re not sure you’ll dig the indie hip-hop, at least you know there will be cheap beer and a bunch of kids from your Intro to Soc class there. My prediction: You will like Snyder’s smooth, hip vibe and clever, socially conscious lyrics. His use of piano with the bass is a refreshing take on the hip-hop back beat, lacking as it does the aggressive gangsta style that dominates the mainstream. Go on down and see what these local kids are up to. Plus, I’m reasonably confident it won’t be cancelled at the last minute (see last two hip-hop shows at the Abbey).

From a different section of the musical spectrum, we’re also blessed with a really good original country band in the form of Midnight Backhand, playing Friday and Saturday at the Wild Horse Saloon. These guys started as a party band in the late ’90s, doing covers of their favorite outlaw country tunes. The band evolved over the years, got a new name and some new members. Now they play what you might call red dirt Texas country with a Colorado heart. You’ve got to respect the guys who go out and play original country-rock songs when many roadhouse audiences want nothing but Garth and McGraw covers. Members Jerry Sutherlin, Abel Lopez and Jon Rey met drummer Clint Nelson at the Cross Canadian Ragweed show in Durango in early ‘05, and thus began Midnight Backhand. And so Durango has its very own homegrown Colorado country rock band, with a record out called “Truck Stop Lovin.’” Their Friday night show is special, in that they’re opening for the Randy Rogers Band, a Texas country outfit that cut its teeth in San Marcos, Texas (between Austin and San Antonio), made a name for itself on regional radio, made an album with Radney Foster, signed with Mercury Nashville records and now has a high-rotation music video on CMT. The new record, “Just a Matter of Time,” debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country Albums chart, but it still plays like a traditional country album done by a killer rock ‘n’ roll band. The son of a preacher man, Rogers is better than your average twanger, Nashville sellout – he’s the real deal. So strap on your boots and head on over to the Wild Horse for a damn good night of real country and rock ‘n’ roll music. Another funny thing about Durango is the sort of people who love bluegrass. If you’ve ever been to the Meltdown or any so-called “newgrass” show in any Colorado town, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve got your traditionalists and musicians who just love mandolins to the point of obsession. Then there are the young hippies who wear overalls without irony and do the vegetarian air-groping/hillbilly stomp combo dance while propelling a certain unwashed odor into the stuffy air of the dance floor. They’re also the ones who light up joints at the show, but the musician types are never shy about taking their turn.

If you’ve ever been to the Meltdown or any so-called “newgrass” show in any Colorado town, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve got your traditionalists and musicians who just love mandolins to the point of obsession. Then there are the young hippies who wear overalls without irony and do the vegetarian air-groping/hillbilly stomp combo dance while propelling a certain unwashed odor into the stuffy air of the dance floor. They’re also the ones who light up joints at the show, but the musician types are never shy about taking their turn. There are also a lot of innocent bystanders at these shows – you could be one of them if you toddle on down to the Abbey on Sunday night to see the Hot Buttered Rum String Band. These good-looking young men from California travel around in a biodiesel bus, bringing their high-altitude bluegrass music with them. The high-altitude reference belongs to the band’s birth story (they met while mountain climbing in the Sierras) not to their place of residence (the near-sea-level city of San Francisco). Their new album is called “A Well Oiled Machine,” and indeed it is: HBRSB is a fine example of the modern evolution of bluegrass music that stays true to the musicianship endemic to the tradition but isn’t afraid to branch out into new combinations and updated songwriting. The show starts around 9 p.m. (provided the bus doesn’t run out of french fry grease on the way over), and tickets are just $10 in advance.

Speaking of fascinating and sometimes frightening socio-cultural studies, the documentary film “Shut Up and Sing” (a.k.a., the Dixie Chicks movie) starts Friday at the Abbey. Inspired by the tagline “Freedom of speech is fine as long as you don’t do it in public,” this documentary/concert film stars the Chicks (Natalie, Emily and Martie), Rick Rubin, and George W. Bush (though he may not be aware of it). The film chronicles the fallout from the now infamous 2003 in-concert comment by Natalie Maines – “We’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas” – the poisonous rhetoric, the CD-crushing tractor, the radio bans and the death threats. It was quite possibly one of the scariest expositions of American intolerance post 9/11 and reminds us just how tenuously any of us truly embrace the concept of free speech. If you consider yourself a liberal and go see this documentary to sneer and grunt at the ignorance of those red-state country fans, take a moment to look inward and decide how you might react if the tables were turned. If Norah Jones was on Austin City Limits and began a Muslim-baiting rant about terrorism and jihad, do you really think the NPR crowd would still want to hear “Come Away With Me” every hour? Just wondering. Anyway, whether you like country music or not, favor the war or not, “Shut up and Sing” is worth seeing as a fascinating piece of American cultural commentary, even if it makes you uncomfortable. After all, an unexamined life is one not worth living.

lindsay_damico@yahoo.com. •