Man I love the hell out of The Backsliders. Matter of fact in the mid to late 90’s there were primarily 5 bands that ruled my world…..The V-Roys, The Backsliders, Red Star Belgrade, Southern Culture On The Skids and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. 3 out of 5 of those bands were from what I called the “Chapel Hill scene”, the scene that produced now famous acts like Ryan Adams and Ben Folds. With that said, now would be a good time to note that this is The Backsliders from Raleigh, NC…for some reason no one told the other 3 bands who decided to call themselves The Backsliders that the name was already taken by a much better band.
The Backsliders to me are pretty much the epitome of rowdy barroom honky tonk rock and roll. Great songs, great vocals, killer playing with perfectly overdriven twang….the kind of music that just makes you want to grab a cheap beer with one hand and a cheap woman with the other and shake your ass the best way you know how (cheap beer helps). This is a pretty decent recording (though there seems to be a ton of reverb) of a great show. Highlights include killer guitar leads with liberal use of the wammy bar, kicking some asshole called Paco out of the club right before Hey Sheriff, and the super obscure Radio Birdman cover to close the show. This is just damn fine music people, download it.
The Backsliders split up in 1999, but frontman Chip Robinson (@TheRudestCat) has a new solo album out this year called Mylow (you should have heard the title track on the spring Truesounds), that is worth checking out if you dig this (listen here).
Also worth noting is Backsliders guitarist Brad Rice went on to perform with Son Volt, Tift Merrit, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Cory Morrow, Peter Case, and most recently, on the upcoming Shinyribs album by Gourds frontman Kevin Russell.
MP3 @ 192 Download The Backsliders – Live in Chapel Hill, NC 1997 here
