MOG

Just got back from Nashville where you can hear bands pick out great honky tonk even as you try to drink away your hangover at breakfast. Picked up some Bobby Bare, Tammy Wynette and Charlie Pride LPs at this record shop downtown (they do mailorder), where for about 40 minutes as I browsed, it was just me, the indifferent owner and a store full of vinyl and a smattering of cassettes left over from past decades. Record dust makes me sneeze.

I was down for the Americana Music Association's conference where for three days people did their best to define "Americana" to those of us who persist in saying, huh? For me it can be tough to keep track of all the names, all the singer/songwriters, but after a few days of club shows, I was getting my bearings. Some highlights: The (still living?!) Charlie Louvin, Chatham County Line, Dale Watson, and Tim Easton.

But the act I've been telling everyone about is the Hacienda Brothers. Their live show has a bit more grit to it than the album, and on first listen it might sound a little like parents' music (apologies to the parents) but to me it's more like Sam Cooke meets Bob Wills. Or something. There are samples on their MySpace page, though that doesn't include one of my favorites from the album, Midnight Dream.