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Sweet Sunny South

Showtime

By Paul Paradis

Found in: | Music |

"I love bluegrass songs about drinking, and the track ?Two Shot Glasses' deserves the love."

There's something special about Colorado bluegrass, and Paonia's own Sweet Sunny South has captured it. I've seen the group a few times as they pass through the Southwest and have always been impressed with the energy and skill it brings to live performances.

Showtime, Sweet Sunny South's fourth release, comes off the heels of a wildly successful 2006 summer tour when the band toured the country's highways and byways of this great land, playing a variety of venues, including Winter Grass in Tacoma, Wash., the Kansas Free State Festival in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as gigs in the bluegrass and country music capital of the world, Nashville.

In 2003-2004, Sweet Sunny South placed in the prestigious and hotly contested RockyGrass Band Contest. In 2007, the readers of Denver's independent newspaper Westword voted Sweet Sunny South "best band" in the bluegrass category. Legendary picker Tim O'Brien provided Sweet Sunny South with props by stating, "The world needs more music from this fine group."

Encapsulating the energy of a live performance is no easy task, but with Showtime, Sweet Sunny South has done it. Each member of the band is a D.J. for Paonia's KVNF community radio, a collective experience that provides the group with an acute ear for what listeners want to hear and how they want to hear it.

All but two songs on Showtime are originals, and in my opinion invention is always the sign of a healthy and vibrant group. The songwriting of banjo and mandolin player Bill Powers and guitarist Rob Miller reflect on classic country and bluegrass themes of lost loves, drinking and a love for small-town America. In Powers' "Farm & Home Jingle," he sings the praises of the local Paonia Farm & Home Supply where "you can't get everything you want but you can get everything you need." It is a warm tune where Showtime producer Aaron Youngberg plays a lively pedal steel. It showcases the lively interchange and chatter one would find at any local supply store anywhere in America or from the annals of Texas-Swing legend Bob Wills.

"Two Dolla Pistols" is a fine song where Cory Obert provides haunting fiddle rifts to a song inspired by the rock-and-roll band the Wilders. A lively romp and one of Showtime's finest songs, it displays Powers strength as a songwriter.

"Bree's Waltz" is an instrumental track supposedly inspired by a pretty bride. Miller and Obert converge and lay the foundation for a slow waltz that would be a darling to dance to with a partner.

"Pardon Me Darlin" jumps as opposed to the slow calm of "Bree's Waltz," and in it Powers provides lyrics of a man who fails to listen (what a surprise!) but rather trails off about his truck and its need of an oil change and a field that needs irrigation. Bassist Shelly Gray provides some sweet background lyrics and . . . before you know it, this romp is over.

I love bluegrass songs about drinking, and the track "Two Shot Glasses" deserves the love. Miller sings the lonely song in a raspy voice, sounding the part of a man who's had a few too many and lost a few too many friends to the bottle. Obert provides a wobbly fiddle sound to compliment ". . . two shot glasses of single malt whiskey/Sitting alone at the table here/One's for the past/One's for the by and by." The songs steady sway sounds drunk.

The Sweet Sunny South is a must-see for bluegrass lovers who live in the Four Corners. If you haven't seen them, you should. Tour dates and just about everything else you'd want to know about this band can be found at www.sweetsunnysouth.com.