MUSIC

Dosey Doe Coffee House presents Jason Boland. (Acoustic show).

Between the East and West Coasts, and still a good distance from the third coast of Nashville, is found a place known as the Dust Bowl. It’s a place where art meets the everyday life of common America, and it has produced some of the most distinctive American art ever. The tradition of that region has produced the music of Woody Guthrie. It provided the root system for the genius of Merle
Haggard. It is the tradition of Bob Childers, a Red Dirt icon, who learned how to present the forgettable man unforgettably, and it’s the tradition that can be heard in the songs of Jason Boland.

Though Jason is the primary songwriter and singer, this is no one-man show. “Outlaw Band,” narrates the vision to which Jason Boland and The Stragglers have always been true: that of self-reliance, determined professionalism and bringing the best music possible to fans.

While at first glance Jason Boland and the Stragglers’ music may seem easy to stereotype as Texas or Country, intent listening makes it harder to categorize their music easily, revealing the influence of the land and life that got them to where they are. Boland knows he can’t shy away from questions about how to classify his music but simply states, “The Chinese don’t call it Chinese food, its just food. I’m just making music.” When asked what the record is about, Boland steams, “It’s about drinking, it’s about being sober, it’s about replacing vices with vices, it’s about divorce, it’s about the silenced, its about the sacrificed souls of Americans, its about Galileo being right! And it’s about working harder than we’ve ever worked.”