Atlanta, Georgia’s Nashville Pussy was dubbed by a U.S. magazine as “one of the hardest working bands in show business”. If you have ever seen them in concert, it would be hard to deny this label. They bring their unique mix of whiskey, Southern metal, raunch and roll to the stage unlike any other band around. Their studio albums have become instant classics, but their live show truly elevates them to another level.
The band was formed back in 1997 by vocalist/guitarist Blaine Cartwright. His wife Ruyter Suys has been by his side along the entire journey playing a blistering lead guitar. The two were joined by drummer Jeremy Thompson. The bass duties in the band have been somewhat of a revolving door having four different female bassists along their 15 year journey. Their current bassist, Karen Cuda, has been with the band 2005’s Get Some! album.
The band is releasing a deluxe version of their 2009 classic From Hell to Texas on March 27 via Steamhammer/SPV. The deluxe version features a remixed and upgraded version of the 2009 album in an unexplained new sequence. For those not familiar with the original release, it contains such staple songs as “Drunk Driving Man”, “Ain’t Your Business” and “I’m So High”. That was the last studio album to date from the band.
The deluxe version contains a second disc entitled Live and Loud in Europe. The disc contains sixteen tracks that are compiled from various shows on their 2011 European tour. The songs span their career from their 1998 debut album up through their 2009 release. The live disc really brings across the power and energy behind this band’s live show. It may be a bit raw at times and not perfect, but isn’t that what true rock and roll is about? It’s not supposed to be clean and sterile and sanitized for your protection.
The better tracks on the live disc seem to come from the show in Prague, Czech Republic. There are blistering versions of “From Hell to Texas” and “Hate and Whiskey” present from that show. Those aren’t the only highlights though. Other standout tracks include a smoking hot version of “Snake Eyes” and the crowd favorite “Go Motherfucker Go”. There’s nothing quite like a raunchy rock and roll song with a great sing-along chorus to get a little audience participation.
Now, I know that a lot of live albums are composed of songs from various shows, but it usually flows together from beginning to end making it almost impossible to tell. There are times on the album where it doesn’t flow as smoothly as others. That’s about the only fault that I have when listening to the album. I’m not sure if this is from the mixing or what, then again maybe the band intended it to be that way to give it even more of a raw edge. The omission of their 1999 Grammy nominated song “Fried Chicken and Coffee” was also a bit of a letdown for me.
The album does a great job of capturing the vibe of a live Nashville Pussy show. You can just sense the sweat dripping from lead guitarist Ruyter as she cranks out her solo; a solo that a lot of men in the business wish they could deliver in the way that she does. Blaine’s vocals do get a bit strained at times and almost sound borderline painful in his delivery, but the man’s a rock and roll trooper and keeps marching on.
The band was formed because they were tired of watching people in rock bands on stage just going through the motions, with more style over substance. As with many great and iconic bands before them, the band came together to play the type of music that they always wanted to hear. It’s raunchy, it’s dirty, it’s sexy and it’s pure, unadulterated rock and roll. They have maintained their authenticity over their fifteen year career and haven’t compromised who they are or what they believe in.
You may not ever hear any of their songs performed on American Idol, but something tells me that they really could care less.
1 comment:
I love this band. They always put on a great show, too. I just saw them about 6 months ago, and they had just as much energy as they always did.
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