ROUTES & BRANCHES  

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

July 7, 2019

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Happy to leap onto the wagon headed heedlessly into the second half of 2019.  We're setting our sights on all that good forthcoming stuff after taking a week to look back on what happened to us musically during the last six months.

Perhaps the best place to start talking about Have Gun Will Travel is with 2015's Science From An Easy Chair.  The Tampa area's last record was an ambitious project that told the tale of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 1914 Antarctic exploration.  Here at R&B we called it an audacious move that brings to mind more theatrically oriented bands like Okkervil River, Frontier Ruckus or Decemberists.  We also likened it to a deep South episode of Schoolhouse Rock.  Heh.  While it's not entirely fair to define HGWT's entire discography by one collection, that last album was typical in its smarts and literary reach.

More things we've learned to expect from Have Gun Will Travel:  Frontguy and writer Matt Burke demonstrates a knack for narrative songs, always melodic and typically propulsive.  While moments of fiddle or strummy acoustic guitar have resulted in a reputation as a roots act, a commitment to confident evolution since their 2008 debut has embraced just as much folk, pop and even punk.  That said, it's my pleasure to ask, with the arrival of Strange Chemistry (Mile Wide, July 12):  Think You Know HGWT?

Credit much of this new spirit to Burke's decision to switch from that narrative style to a more personal perspective, an alteration that opens these songs to a new range of expression.  Rather than pieces emerging from his interest in history or biography, Strange Chemistry is inspired by the writer's own story.  "Blood On the Stage" addresses the band's indelible Florida roots: All the late nights in the 813 / At the Crowbar and the New World Brewery.  Like much of this new work, it's a rocking cut with an anthemic spirit, exploring the rock edge of Burke's delivery and the heavier frontiers of co-producer Scott Anderson's guitar.  Like "Tidal Wave", a punk-like bouncer, the song finds Burke pulling back the curtains on an ongoing struggle with anxiety.  Nothing to fear but fear itself he declares, But fear itself can be a fate far worse than death.

Have Gun have populated previous CDs with driving, upbeat cuts built largely on those strummed acoustic guitars and more drums than one might expect from a roots band.  With Strange Chemistry, the group tips the balance to the rock side of their musical equation.  "Infinite Traveler" sets a slightly unsettling mood with a biting electric guitar and impressionistic lyrics: It started with a choir of angels / Turned into a murder of crows.  The song speaks to those uncertain moments when we might feel unstuck in space, a message encouraged by time signature changes and even a guitar solo or two.  "Justified" enters on a jagged squall of feedback before settling into a more familiar shuffle, the singer indulging in a moment of personal accounting:  I don't need to be forgiven / I don't need to be justified / And when I meet my creator I'll look him in the eye / Say heaven knows I tried.

Co-produced by Matt Burke and guitarist Scott Anderson, Strange Chemistry is simply a different, more current sounding record than we're used to from HGWT.  We're also caught off guard by moments of beauty such as "Against the Grain", an ode to the strange chemistry of a lasting relationship.  The yearning synth line which overlays the chorus is a subtle but moving touch.  The last 90 seconds of "Mystery of Mine" reach gorgeously for the heavens with chimes and backing vocals.  The record closes on a career high point with the Byrds-like "Dark and the Light".

The songs of Strange Chemistry still tell a story, though it's on a deeper personal level than Have Gun's earlier work.  We're treated to an extension of the sound we've come to appreciate from a band that's ready to entertain some new challenges. Atop the bright horns of "American History", Burke urges his cohort to share his vision: We're not ready to surrender / We can render our own American history.

- Mic Harrison, "Shake Your Faith" Pallbearer's Shoes  (Harrison, 04)
- Hollis Brown, "Do Me Right" Ozone Park  (Mascot, 19)
- Angie McMahon, "Keeping Time" Salt  (Compass, Jul 26)
- Shinyribs, "Crazy Lonely" Fog & Bling  (Mustard Lid, 19)
- Matt Woods, "My Southern Heart" Natural Disasters  (Lonely Ones, 19)
- Shane Smith & the Saints, "Heaven Knows" Hail Mary  (Geronimo West, 19)
- Jade Jackson, "Don't Say That You Love Me" Wilderness  (Anti, 19)
- Erik Koskinen, "Pony to Ride" Burning the Deal  (Real Phonic, 19)
- Pony Bradshaw, "Jehovah" Sudden Opera  (Rounder, 19)
- 6 String Drag, "Ghost" High Hat  (Schoolkids, 97)
- Kacy & Clayton, "Forty-Ninth Parallel" Carrying On  (New West, Oct 4)
- Purple Mountains, "Margaritas At the Mall" Purple Mountains  (Drag City, Jul 12)
- Sara Watkins, "When It Pleases You" Sun Midnight Sun  (Nonesuch, 12)
- Leland Sundries, "Song For the Girl With the Replacements Tattoo" Pray Through Gritted Teeth  (L'Echequier, 19)  D
- Western States, "Give This Town Away" From the Center Out  (Marquette, Jul 19)
- Giant Sand, "Hard Man To Get To Know" Recounting the Ballads of the Thin Line Man  (Fire, Sep 20)  D
- Larry & His Flask, "Pace That It Belongs" Everything Besides  (Xtra Mile, Jul 19)
- Waxahatchee, "Dixie Cups and Jars" Cerulean Salt  (Don Giovanni, 13)
- Erin Enderlin, "I Can Be Your Whiskey" Chapter Two: I Can Be Your Whiskey  (Black Crow, 19)  D
- Angela Perley, "4:30" 4:30  (Perley, Aug 2)
- Esther Rose, "Sex and Magic" You Made It This Far  (Father/Daughter, Aug 23)
- Chance McCoy, "Wander Wide" Wander Wide  (McCoy, Sep 20)
- Spirit Family Reunion, "Ease My Mind" Ride Free  (SFR, Aug 9)
- Will Bennett & the Tells, "In Nashville" All Your Favorite Songs  (Jewel Boy, Jul 26)
- Matt Harlan, "Best Beasts" Best Beasts  (Eight 30, Jul 12)  D
- Turnpike Troubadours, "Southeastern Son" Goodbye Normal Street  (Bossier City, 12)
- Goodnight Texas, "Tennessee" Senseless Age  (Cent Back Check, Jul 19)  D
- Jordan Moser, "Road to Trouble (feat. Molly Tuttle)" Long Night  (Keeled Scales, Jul 26)
- Lindi Ortega, "Little Lie" Little Red Boots  (Last Gang, 11)
- Bill Callahan, "Ballad of the Hulk" Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest  (Drag City, 19)

And it's been a couple weeks since we formally ushered you into A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our puzzlingly accurate roots music release calendar.  Since we last checked in, new stuff has been added to the schedule from acts like Goodnight Texas and Leslie Stevens.  Rachel Harrington has planned a late August date for Hush the Wild Horses, and we couldn't be more pleased at the news of Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster's Take Heart Take Care, he of the Water Liars and Marie/Lepanto.  Paul Cauthen is backed by the ever-welcome Texas Gentlemen on Room 41 (Lightning Rod, Sep 6), and that same day we'll be welcoming a new project from Ana Egge that reportedly favors her more country-leaning side.  Longtime followers of R&B are aware of my abiding fondness for Alabama Shakes, so imagine my pleasure upon hearing Brittany Howard's announcement of her first solo CD (ATO, Sep 20).  You'll want to see also new news about Michaela Anne, Dead South and North Mississippi Allstars.  Plus, on September 27 Charlie Parr will be releasing a self-titled mix of re-recordings and new songs on Red House Records.  To start catching up on all the sounds associated with these words, your weekly ROUTES-cast:

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