This is BR549
Once upon a time, BR549 were the new-traditionalist kids on the Lower Broadway block, working for tips, taking on the toughest stump-the-band requests, and almost single-handedly cracking open a calcified Nashville scene. In 2001, five years since their first album, they haven't changed their good-natured, no frills, honky-tonkin' sound. They still blaze through twangy rock like theEverly Brothers' "Price of Love," still spin through hillbilly swing like Chuck Mead's terrific original "Fool of the Century," and they're not afraid to get shamelessly sentimental, as on Gary Bennett's "Different Drum." If there's a misstep, it's a small one: "A Little Good News" is the kind of wishy-washy liberalism better suited to Oprah than the Opry. Yet few young bands wear simple country pleasures as well as BR549. The hyphen may be gone, but the heart isn't.--Roy Kasten