Music from over the transom

I never know what is going to show up on my desk, especially when it comes to compact discs. We don’t get a lot around here, and most are pretty awful. But sometimes, a real gem will make its way over via one of the smaller independent labels trudging along the edges of the music industry.

That’s how I learned about Brett Dennen‘s disc, So Much More, and The Hacienda Brothers.

And it’s how I came across the quirky, humorous country-rock hybrid, Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours — yes, you heard me, Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours and their wonderful new disc, Trailercana.

The disc is a crazy affair, musically flawless, weaving bits of country, roots rock, folk, Texas swing — a real American band, varying tempos, spinning to the edge of control, but never losing it.

And then there are the lyrics, songs about drinking and love, but spun through a comic lens. Consider these song titles:

• “Living in Aluminum”
• “I Was Just Flipped Off by a Silver Haired Old Lady With a ‘Honk If You Love Jesus’ Sticker on the Bumper of Her Car”
• “I Wanna Live in a Billboard”
• “Cubic Zirconium in the Rough”
• “I Married Up”
• “Ron Howard’s Brother”

Crazy stuff, right? And the songs are exactly what you’d expect. Here is a snippet of lyric from “Billboard”:

I wanna live in a billboard.
I wanna be in that happy place.
I wanna live in a billboard.
I’d be a cowboy with a leather face.
And I’ll never have the need for Prozac.
And the hair I’ve lost will up and grow back.
And I’ll be forever young.

Or this, from “Ron Howard’s Brother”:

And people would ask me questions;
How is Andy Griffith in real life?
Is it true what they say about Gomer?
Did you really meet Barney Fife?

I could go on, but won’t. All I’ll say is that the disc officially comes out May 22. The black sticker on the front of the disc may say “Contains no hits whatsoever,” but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get their turn on the VH1 “V-Spot Top 20.”

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet