Crooked County learns the right lessons

Crooked County was driving home from a show in Texas when the always welcome sound of police sirens echoed through the air. Worried he would be ticketed for speeding, guitarist-vocalist Jason Purnell was talking to the officer when the copper noticed the cowboy hats lining the dash.\nJason explained that he, his brother and fellow guitarist-vocalist Toby Purnell, bassist-vocalist Merrie Sloan and drummers Mark Minnick and Travis Olsson compose a country band. As innately interested in fame and music as anyone, the cop let the band leave for a promise to mention his name and a bumper sticker. \nLesson of a band No. 1: Life is good. \nReal country music is honest. It goes beyond the glam of rock or image-propelled rap and is driven by the souls of real people, whether or not they get divorced or lose their truck. Crooked County is no exception. With a mix of pick-worthy country rock and dressed-down bluegrass, the band unleashes Bloomington's finest whiskey-driven and unapologetic sound. \nThe band mixes a sweet drink with its two guitars, upright bass, dual drum kits and three-part harmonies that float down with a burn. The lyrics are punchy and delivered with alternating parts yee-haw fun and the perceptive twang of hard-life sadness.\nFormed in the mid-'90s as a bluegrass band, Crooked County soon transformed to deliver its now country rock style. \n"It kind of just grew into that, the way we were writing songs and the way we were all playing," Jason says. Toby says that the sound also transformed when the band gained its first drummer, Minnick. Olsson joined later. \nSloan threw in enticing female vocals and a solid upright bass rhythm when she joined, diversifying the formerly all-male sound. She is beauty and intensity furled into a tall frame and red hair, a fire evident in her songwriting. \nLesson of a band No. 2: Be rowdy. And sing about it.\nThe songs are the band's strength. Beyond the musical talent and energy of the band, each tune touches base with old-time country roots and the raucous of young musicians. \nNinety percent of the songs are true stories, say the writers Jason, Toby and Sloan. Spun around experience, songs off the demo from the upcoming CD, Drunkard's Lament, weave a web of personal relationships, trouble and drinking problems. The most poignant of the six, "Drunk and Gamble," came about when Jason was lying on a beach and saw a group of people crying while dropping ashes and flower petals into the ocean. \nLesson of a band No. 3: Be honest. \nThe vocals convey the lyrics perfectly. Toby is low and gravely, Jason smooth and swaying while Sloan hits the notes with feeling. The three alternate between lead and backing vocals. \nWhile it might seem that two drummers could lead to a heavy sound, Minnick and Olsson convey the opposite, swinging a solid and uncluttered rhythm.\nThe music reflects the musicians; they are as friendly and unassuming as their tunes. \nCrooked County's southern Indiana country breeds in a town that doesn't offer too much of the same. But when the group played to a packed room in the Cellar Lounge two weeks ago, the crowd was dancing and whooping. \nYet the band doesn't only have local appeal. Whiskey Burns, released in 1999, sold many copies overseas through MP3.com and MilesofMusic.com. The success helped lead to the band's record deal with Rustic Records, whose Phoenix studios was host to the recording of much of the new album.\nTo be released sometime in April, Drunkard's Lament will no doubt sell copies of the "whiskey-driven, country fried" sound. The six-song demo mixes energy with lamenting for a national release that is sure to propel the band's success. \nLesson of a band No. 4: Play real, unapologetic country music. Don't succumb to the pop market. Do what you love and push your potential. Some day: revel in success. \nCrooked County will play at the Cellar Lounge, 123 S. Walnut St., on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.