Thursday, December 21, 2017

“One More Whiskey” by Broke Down Rodeo – A Song Review

     Americana is the genre most likely to have you zealously drumming the surface in front of you while listening to somber lyrics. “One More Whiskey” is a prime example. The track has an infectious energy as you listen to a story about using drink to wash down the soul that’s being mishandled by a woman.

     The track is from Broke Down Rodeo, a six-member band from Summit County, Colorado. Vocally, the attractiveness begins with Larry Lacerte. But it’s the selective harmonization from Anna Welcher that makes the difference. Her voice is heard during all six occurrences of “One more whiskey,” as well as a few other lines that leave the impression that the female half of the song’s couple also benefits from the drink.

     Instrumentally, the attractiveness of the track is the accumulation of contributions. The bridge that begins near the one-minute mark is particularly noteworthy. The members of Broke Down Rodeo are Matt Lovas (guitar/vocals), Nick Slaton (drums), Bill Ryan (bass), John Burk (banjo/dobro/mandolin/vocals), Anna Welcher (lead vocals/guitar), and Larry Lacerte (guitar/vocals). The band’s bio is long, but interesting. So we pasted the bio below the lyrics.

     “One More Whiskey” by Broke Down Rodeo 


Lyrics of “One More Whiskey” by Broke Down Rodeo
One more whiskey
Be good for me
Drink it down
Then we’ll see

She looks like trouble
But I just gotta know

One more whiskey
For my woozy brain
Drench my troubles
Wash her away

I got a woman
Tearing at my soul

One more whiskey
To stain the day
Give it colors
One new frame

One hand in my pocket
One hand on my throat

One more whiskey
Be good for me
Choke my worries
Set me free

One more whiskey
To wash down my soul

Better make that one more whiskey
To wash down my soul

ABOUT BROKE DOWN RODEO:
  Born of the mountains, Broke Down Rodeo is an Americana reflection of blues, country, folk and rockabilly following the inspirations of lead vocalists and song writers Anna Welcher and Larry Lacerte. What started as the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol holiday party band grew and grew to go beyond the hill to spread the glories of it’s sound to the valleys and flatlands below. Anna came to join together with the band by way of a a mutually realized passion for good music discovered via a steamy rebound make-out session with multi-instrument threat Jonathan Burk. Nick Slaton and Bill Ryan joined up, by strictly platonic measures, bringing the heartbeat of the band with their lively percussion and thumpin' stand-up bass, respectively.

  Anna is just about as down-home midwest gone mountain-mama-wild as it gets, her voice has a rich soul that takes over a room and her lyrics are deeply rooted in her own vicarious experience. Raised on a pig farm in rural Iowa, she learned music and persona from her larger than life father and the cast of characters in her surrounding community. Traipsing about to festivals with the family, throwing tomahawks and knives into stumps between jam sessions, she grew to be a force to be reckoned with, inspiring her to travel the country in search of good times and stories from the Rockies to Appalachia. She eventually landed in the role of den-mother to a rare tribe of characters at the Foam Dome in Silverthorne, CO where she was the rock that kept a community of artists together, forwardly pursing their dreams amongst the backdrop of beautiful mountains. Her sound, dreads, and character are driven by the femme fatale likes of Nikki Lane, Stevie Nicks, Carry Anne Hearst, Valerie June, Janis Joplin, Tanya Tucker, Margo Price and Gillian Welch with a strong dose of the modern American west and her travels peppered throughout her performance.

  Larry’s ambitions grew beyond ski bummin’ and powder houndin’ leading him to quit the slopes to pursue his musical dreams full-time. Adventuring from Colorado to Alaska, he filled his life with stories and song, developing an extensive rolodex of genuine original music along the way. The band always came back together when the seasons came around and everyone was in town to play for friends at the local breweries and bar halls of Summit County, Colorado. In this time they began exploring their sound, eventually leading to CCM Studios in Denver in early 2017 to begin recording their debut album.

  Jonathan and Nick both grew up outside Fort Worth, Texas where the two were raised on original Texas Country artists and the new wave Red Dirt Country sound. Like most smart Texans, they went quick for the cooler weather of Colorado and have been Ski Patrollers at Copper Mountain while the band grew and the sound came together. The Beast from the East, Bill Ryan, brings the wisdom of the years and the sounds of playing local bar ear-candy throughout the country. A ski-bum with an MBA, Bill loves making music, deep pow, and slappin’ the bass. When not dangling from a rope on high alpine routes across the Rockies and Sierras, Matt ‘Sunshine’ Lovas, is yet another former Copper Patroller who brings his San Diego raised, firebird shred-style lead guitar to the band. Trucking about the western US in his ’87 Dodge Creeper/Climbing Bum van named Mr. Barnes, Sunshine follows the winds where they may blow. You might catch him at our next show, you might not — all depends on the forecast for pow, barrels, and ideal alpine conditions in the 100 mile radius from which he currently exists.

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