New Haven Advocate: Music - Still a ScorcherStill a Scorcher
The king of cowpunk keeps it fun and flexible
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009Lawson Little Photo
Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers goes solo at Café Nine.
Jason Ringenberg
With Eddie Seville. 9 p.m., Oct. 20. Café Nine, 250 State St. 203-789-8281, cafenine.com. $8.
It takes a real man to admit he likes John Denver.
That's exactly what Jason Ringenberg does early in our conversation when I tell him I love his version of "Take Me Home (Country Roads)" with groundbreaking alt-country band, Jason and the Scorchers.
With a hearty laugh, this Nashville resident says, "Oh, I like a lot of John Denver songs; we should've done more."
It's just this kind of genres-be-damned, we-kill-cool approach that defined the Scorchers' electrifying sound. This trademark, described by Ringenberg as "fun and flexibility," will be vividly on display when he plays a rare solo show at Café Nine Oct. 20.
"I am sort of promoting a new record, a compilation that Yep Roc has released called Best Tracks and Side Tracks [1979-2007]," says this garrulous fella.
"I imagine I'll play some tunes from it, like 'The Life of the Party,' and certainly some Scorchers favorites. But I have one m.o. that works. No setlists! That keeps it fun and flexible. For the audience and me. I have a lot of material, so it would be hard to keep it all straight, anyway."
The King of Cowpunk ain't kidding. If you've followed his career since he formed the Scorchers in the early '80s, you'll know this guy is responsible for fistfuls of classics that only a lucky few have heard.
With a sound that melds punk and pure country way before it was cool (hi, Uncle Tupelo!), the Scorchers blew a bracing wind through roots rock with blistering numbers like "Harvest Moon," "White Lies" and Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie," pistol-whipped in ways which probably gave Bob the willies.
Ringenberg isn't kidding when he cites "Jerry Lee Lewis" and "those country boys the Ramones" as partners in the unsanctioned marriage that produced the Scorchers' sound. Not officially recognized by the Mother Church of country music, anyway, but who cares?
Ringenberg has solo tunes on his new disc that more than match his early classics. Check out the insanely revved-up rockabilly of "The Life of the Party" with its typically Jason-esque opening couplet: "A girl could catch pneumonia in them clothes/And where in the world did you get those fishnet hose?"
Then there's "Bible and a Gun," a slow-tempo outlaw plaint featuring a fiddle and menacing protagonist who wanders the West with the title items in hand as well as a bad attitude. Oh yeah, the disc also sports Steve Earle singing a verse. If The Man with No Name sang a theme song, it would sound something like this.
And there's more good news.
Ringenberg reports a new Scorchers record is scheduled for an early 2010 release. When asked if a tour will follow, this Illinois-bred son of a hog farmer is typically modest.
"We'll have to see if there's a demand for it. As much as people loved us, the Scorchers didn't get much airplay back in the '80s. We were a hard band to sell, mostly because of my voice, I think. It was kind of raw.
"Plus country music wasn't used to such fast tempos. I know people think bands like Wilco owe us a debt and all, but I don't think that way. I've got my solo work both as Jason and as (overall-clad alter ego) Farmer Jason. I'm writing songs and doing a lot of solo shows. I don't really worry about who owes who what."