BR549
Tangled in the Pines

(Dualtone)

First Appeared at The Music Box, April 2004, Volume 11, #4

Written by T.J. Simon

As a general rule, when a lead singer departs, the responsible move for remaining band members is to pack up shop and walk away from the enterprise. There’s an air of fraud and desperation when groups hire imitators in an effort to keep the magic alive (see 10,000 Maniacs or Creedence Clearwater Revisited). So, when news hit that BR549’s primary lead vocalist Gary Bennett along with the charismatic bass player Smilin’ Jay McDowell had left the ensemble, many thought it was the end of a Nashville retro-country institution. Surprisingly, the band realigned itself by handing the reigns over to Chuck Mead, who had always served as BR549’s secondary singer. A new hire named Chris Scruggs stepped in as the second banana vocalist, and Geoff Firebaugh was added as the new bass player for the collective’s satisfying new album Tangled in the Pines.

The transition into the new BR549 line-up is relatively seamless largely because Mead’s voice has always been associated with BR549’s sound. Interestingly, Tangled in the Pines is BR549’s first album of all original material, yet the sound retains the classic honky-tonk flavor that fans have come to expect. The best of the bunch is the Johnny Cash-ish No Train to Memphis and the NRBQ-ish Ain’t Got Time. As with all BR549 outings, the fiddle from multi-instrumentalist stalwart Don Herron is nothing short of spectacular, particularly on the album’s likable title track. The disc closes with Way too Late (to Go Home Early Now), a good-rockin’ barn-burner in the tradition of Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen. Although Tangled in the Pines won’t catapult BR549 into country’s mainstream, it won’t leave loyal fans feeling betrayed either. ½

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box