I don’t know many truck drivers. Hell, I don’t know ANY truck drivers but if all the stereotypes are to be believed, Scott H. Biram may be the prototypical truck-driving country-rock hillbilly with a need for speed … speed metal, that is. His 2006 release, Graveyard Shift, isn’t really an alt.country-metal album the way, say, some of the stuff that Hank III puts out is, but you can tell that Biram’s the type of dude whose got an armful of tattoos that he shouldn’t be showing in church or to his momma. As much as metal influenced Biram (I’m guessing the guy’s got a shoebox full of Motorhead cassettes), there’s also a dirty blues influence in his music. Now, I’m a trusting fella and am inclined to believe that his love of country and the blues is genuine though Pitchfork called Biram’s 2005 release, The Dirty Old One Man Band, “mock blues” to which Biram had a few words to say.
DOWNLOAD: “Whiskey” from The Dirty Old One Man Band
DOWNLOAD: “Been Down too Long” from Graveyard Shift
DOWNLOAD: “No Way” from Graveyard Shift
You’ll have the opportunity to decide for yourself whether it’s real or mocking as Biram hits the road this month for a string of tour dates.
1/19 – Austin, TX (Hole in the Wall)
1/24 – Houston, TX (Continental Club)
1/25 – Lake Charles, LA (Cowboy’s Night Club)
1/26 – Hattiesburg, MS (Thirsty Hippo)
1/29 – Athens, GA (Caledonia Lounge)
1/30 – Atlanta, GA (Star Bar)
1/31 – Knoxville, TN (Pilot Light)
2/3 – Raleigh, NC (The Berkeley Cafe)
2/5 – Charleston, SC (The Map Room)
2/6 – Daytona Beach, FL (The Bank and Blues Club)
2/7 – Orlando, FL (The Social)
2/8 – Ybor City, FL (Orpheum)
2/9 – St. Pierce, FL (Stage Easy)
2/12 – Tallahassee, FL (Big Daddy’s)
2/13 – Baton Rouge, LA (Spanish Moon)
2/14 – Alexandria, LA (Finnegan’s Wake)
2/15 -Â Lafayette, LA (Blue Moon Saloon)
2/16 – Beaumont, TX (Vortex)
My stuff in this issue includes: Half-page features on Great Northern and Sea Wolf and reviews of CDs by Murder Your Darlings, Megan Palmer, Paper Airplane, Southeast Engine, Tigers Can Bite You, Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer, and Sensory Lullabies: The Ultimate Tribute to Jellyfish.
I tried to set up a phone interview with somebody from the EDITORS for the January issue of MELT but they were squirrelled away in the studio doing some recording in December and, unfortunately, the interview never happened. But, the band is coming to Columbus in January – along with Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV – so I wrote up a 2-page feature. Because the magazine is limited to distribution in Columbus, I’ll go ahead and publish the story after the jump.