Junior Brown

Armed with his "guit-steel," which looked like a pair of Fender Twin Reverbs (the amps were facing the back wall!) and a three piece backup band including a drumset that consisted solely of one cymbal and a snare, Junior Brown walked up on stage like it was his living room. Brown should be comfortable there, after all he is "a Kirksville boy." Brown's rhythm guitarist Dave Gallup even said after the show that it was "definitely a Junior crowd tonight. Everybody screamed in the right places."\nIt was obvious Brown's down home humor got through to the crowd. The laughter wasn't forced when Brown stuck out his tongue and said, "Elvis never did that. Tasteless," mocking the older country musician's attitudes to the rock 'n' roll pioneers he clearly loves. \nBut Brown has not completely bought into the modern music scene either. He prefers substance over style anyday and yells, "This ain't no frat party, Jack," then breaks into some classic country riffs. \nDrummer Pete Amaral has worked tons of shows with Junior in the past 27 years and thinks this approach is a big part of their appeal. "I don't know anyone who does all that he does," Amaral says. "Pure American music whether it's Ernest Tubb or Hendrix. (I) Certainly can't think of anyone that does it that well."\nAmaral also says he believes that the smaller venues always help. "We're more into the smaller clubs than a stadium," Amaral says. "You can look into the people's eyes. At a stadium you can't really see past the first two rows and not really even that sometimes."\nMatt Hughes, who's seen Junior Brown five other times including at the Little Nashville Opry and the Indy Jazzfest, says, "He rocks harder at the Bluebird than anywhere. He always plays the staples, but each show is different."\nHughes saw Brown's video for "I Hung It Up" and decided to check him out live. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long. "Two days later I saw him at the 'Bird and I've been an addict ever since," Hughes says. "I have almost all of the CDs, but they really don't compare with seeing him live." \nThe guit-steel -- a guitar that combines a solidbody electric with a steel guitar -- is Brown's own invention. He uses it to switch rapidly from his fancy chicken-pickin' six-string work to a smooth slide sound found in traditional country acts. As the singer, Brown's guit-steel allows him to switch gears comfortably without backing away from the mic or picking up too many guitars.\nSome see Brown's innovative guitar work and melding of style as a sort of country-rock version of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Like Vaughan he combines blues, rock and country, but with more of an emphasis on country instead of blues, and like Vaughan he's an inspiring player. \nJunior Brown fan and guitarist Neil McCrary says, "He's the kind of guy that will make you want to play guitar or quit altogether. He takes a lot of country music that you don't hear today, like maybe Hank Williams Sr., and adds rock. He always surprises you."\nThe show kicked off with "Broke Down South of Dallas," an older cut typical of Brown's raucous rockabilly/country sound. Throughout the set Brown displayed his love for the wild side of rock with guitar pyrotechnics, string bends, picks and siren slide wails.\nDuring the show, there seemed to be some technical difficulties. The speakers popped and vocals cut out occasionally, while Junior made a face that indicated someone needed a whuppin'. Instead of pulling an Axl Rose, Brown asked, "Could y'all hear that one? Do I need to do that verse again?" and took the opportunity to blast through another heat-seeking solo after belting out the first verse to his staple "I Hung It Up."\nBut the set wasn't filled with just the rollicking rockers like "Highway Patrol" -- where Brown would actually tune and de-tune the guitar in rhythm to hit different notes -- there were slower, classic Hank Williams (Sr.) sounding songs like "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" and "Running with the Wind" and raunchy blues tunes with a guitar tone on the twangy side of Buddy Guy. At one time Brown even ripped through "Foxey Lady" paying tribute to another wild axe-slinger and adding in some country fills. Brown pulled out all the stops during his surf-medley adding themes from old Western's, classical style fingerpicking and Eastern style glissandos.\nIt's been a long road since Junior Brown's first big shows at Austin's legendary Antone's and his weekly sets at the Continental Club. Though Brown looks to be about twice the age of a majority of the crowd, his sense of humor, connections to roots music and versatile guitar chops keep the wild spirit of rock alive.