Here It Is - The Best Albums of 2016

Okay, so this is the culmination of the musical year, the part everyone wants to read because it satiates our two great needs – subjective, arbitrary rankings of art and numbered lists.  If this were the internet (hey, wait…) I might be so inclined to toss in a “Number 7 will shock you!” but because I respect the intelligence of those reading this, I won’t stoop to such a facile attempt to patronize your greater sensibilities.

Not much in the way of introductions needed here, because first of all, the headline pretty much covers what you need to know going in and if you wanted a more in-depth, analytical look at the year at large, well, you’ve likely already read the extended exchange of intellectual diatribes between myself and my esteemed cohort, Chris.

So real quick, let’s blast through the rules.  Pretty easy, there’s basically only one.  To be eligible, an album must be composed of original studio material.  Which means no live albums, no re-releases, no compilations.  You follow?  Good.  On we go.

One quick preamble before we sojourn further (and I know I promised no lengthy introductions.) As the year progressed, I kept a running tally of albums that I thought might prove their mettle enough to be included on this list.  In the end, there were thirty contestants, all of which I enjoyed, so just because an album does not appear here does not diminish its value.  So, with a tip of the cap to Black Wizard, Surgical Meth Machine, Jinjer, Dark Forest, Red Tide Rising, Prong, Deadlock and a fistful of others, let’s get to the awards:

Honorable Mention – Gypsy Chief Goliath – Citizens of Nowhere
As if anybody had any doubt about the future of baseline, sludgy blues metal, here comes Gypsy Chief Goliath to put all those fear to bed.  A stunningly powerful and at times abrasive album, the band also weaves some classic rock style songwriting into their mix, creating a much fuller and more robust experience.



11 – The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Keep It Greasy
As eclectic and bizarre as ever, The Shovell returns to the halls of this list having once previously submitted the album of the year.  There was an effort in between that one and this one that didn’t make the grade, but the gents return to form on this record, combining their…unique…themes and visions with their penchant for writing catchy, old-school riffs that undulate with that glorious distortive factor that so characterized the most memorable experiences of rock in the ‘70s.



10 – Devil to Pay – A Bend Through Space and Time 
This is as much a vote for the entire Devil to Pay catalogue as it is for this specific album.  Every DtP album is different from its predecessor, which is an accomplishment in and of itself, this one being no exception to that remarkable pattern.  As I look back over the list, it’s probably a reflection of personal preference that the first three albums we’ve talked about today are all muddy reproductions of rock-as-we-remember-it, plucked from the tree of Black Sabbath and given to take root in the furnace of modern metal.  Anyway, “A Bend Through Space and Time” keeps the gears churning with that Midwest flair that Devil to Pay trades so well in, crafting a rolling, roiling listen that never rests.



9 – Red Eleven – Collect Your Scars
C’mon people, let’s help this band out.  They deserve to be on a world tour immediately.  Sometimes you hear new music and you just know that a band has ‘it.’  Red Eleven is one of those bands.  This is one part European metal precision and one part pure American grunge design.  There are few bands operating now who seem to want to admit they took their inspiration from the ‘90s, but Red Eleven is in that company, and leading the charge.  “Collect Your Scars” showcases the band’s smooth songwriting and easy composition while juxtaposing that against their aural power.

8 – Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule
And of course, right after we make one trip to a band influenced by the ‘90s, we crash right back into bands that have a public love affair with the ‘70s.  Or in some cases on this album, the ’60s.  Even more than their previous efforts, Blood Ceremony goes to great efforts to craft an experience that synthesizes their intimate knowledge of flower rock with the dread and occult of traditional heavy metal.  Top all this off with the siren song of Alia O’Brien and it makes for a can’t miss experience.



7 – The Browning – Isolation
Finally, I break my own pattern by including a record that shares nearly nothing in common with any of the others records on this list.  A unique mix of hardcore and edm, this is the logical extension of industrial metal as we’ve long thought of it, a pure give into the depth of electronic music.  At the time of review I said that this album possessed distinct flaws, and nothing about that has changed, but this is one of those glorious moments where the insight and uniqueness of the product overshadows the shortcomings.  Whenever I wanted something different in my speakers this year, this is where I turned.



6 – Death Angel – The Evil Divide
Thrash, when done right, is still a genre of malice and power.  Many of the hallmark bands of the once proud genre have strayed from that message or forgotten it entirely, but Death Angel is still carrying the banner, standing on the precipice and shouting to all those who would hear that thrash is alive and well.  Yet for all the shredding riffs and glass-chewing tones, it’s the emotional affectation of “Lost” that helps separate the album from the rest of thrash’s contenders this year.

5 – Red Fang – Only Ghosts
Only Red Fang can simultaneously sound like six different bands and yet still sound exclusively like Red Fang.  That’s an incredibly hard balance to strike, but Red Fang continues to exist at the unlikely crossroads of Clutch, Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age.  One of the tricks of this album that makes it work so well is that no matter how far afield the songs get, there’s always a big chorus around the corner to bring everyone back into the fold.  It’s a critical talent, once that we’ll see again later on this list.



4 – Lacuna Coil – Delirium
Another record that works as a product of its emotional mix, “Delirium” sees Lacuna Coil tune down their radio-friendly metal chops and focus it into a sharp metal point that showcases fear, hope and anger in equal mix.  For the first time in a long time, the star of this album isn’t just Cristina Scabbia, but the play of her sanguine vocals laid against the harsh grunt of Andrea Ferro.  The return of that dynamic to the fore speaks louder than any other elements on this record, marking a new phase in Lacuna Coil’s already storied career.



3 – Texas Hippie Coalition – Dark Side of Black
As I talked about briefly in my discussion with Chris, some of what makes this album stand out is that I think THC fans were pretty sure we knew everything there was to know about the band’s musical acumen.  Then this album drops, taking their game to the next level both in ferocity and craftsmanship.  Big Dad Ritch confessed that the album was written and recorded quickly, an intentional effort by the band to release a record that shows some seams, while still showcasing the brilliance of Cord Pool, their guitarist who was finally involved in the writing of new material for the first time.  The band’s swagger is still ever-present, but there’s not genuine malice woven into the brew.



2 – PAIN – Coming Home
Heavy-handed proof that side projects need not be discarded.  All of PAIN’s records have been competitive against the established track record of Hypocrisy, but this one takes that game to a whole new level and challenges Peter Tägtgren’s main act to live up to this record.  “Coming Home” is a multi-faceted beast, one that showcases the power of rock, metal, weird samples, bizarre lyrics and straight-up tight songwriting.  The riffs, as ever for PAIN, remain the star.



1 – Destrage – A Means to No End
…and what else could it be?  The Italians top the list this year (after falling just short to Red Eleven a couple years back,) by bringing their full arsenal of musical mastery to the fore and combining all of the ingredients seamlessly before our eyes.  Destrage succeeds because they locate the sound they want, then acquire it, regardless of how far outside the bounds of what’s ‘metal’ they need to go.  Almost like a prog band, this group of artists can find and blend the best parts of rock, metal, hardcore, prog, grunge and maybe even some lounge material in such a skillful fashion that the listener never feels lost.  Much in the same vein as Red Fang, this is a band that knows how to craft a catchy chorus and always keeps one in the back pocket to bring everyone back together once the song has meandered too far.  Their talent is both undeniable and irresistible.  If you want to step outside the box a little, and really see what metal can do at the same time, there’s no better opportunity in 2016 than to hang out with Destrage’s new record.

Concert Review: Texas Hippie Coalition

The release of “Dark Side of Black” marked an important pivot for Texas Hippie Coalition, as the band demonstrated the ability to shift between musical gears while still keeping the engine running without a hitch.  The resultant tour promised to be a celebration of this new found array of possibilities, a chance for fans old and new to relive favorite memories and connect with new ones.

First though, the Sons of Texas.  Formed in 2013 and signed to Razor & Tie (who are quietly putting together a rather interesting roster,) the band just by their mere appearance promised the gathered faithful another set of down-and-dirty southern groove metal.

The band did not disappoint, blasting through a collection of singles from their debut full length “Baptized in the Rio Grande.”  That title track woke the crowd up, flanked by powerful anthems like “Blameshift” and “Pull It and Fire.”  Sons of Texas was essentially given forty minutes to do as much damage as they could, and the band ripped through one end of their setlist and cleanly out the other, leaving behind an audience who may not have been familiar, but flocked to the merch table when it was over.

Here’s the key to their success – nobody likes Sons of Texas more than Sons of Texas does, and when you’re a new band in an unfamiliar part of the country, selling the sizzle, making the fans believe that yours is a show worth investing in, is a huge step in the right direction.  Vocalist Mark Morales reminds of a Texas version of Dani Filth (in appearance only,) and he pairs with bassist Nick Villarreal (who is secretly the heart of this operation,) to lead the band through a pile of good-natured, enjoyable self-aggrandizement.  This is all meant as a compliment.  Sons of Texas knows how to sell Sons of Texas.

And then it was time for the feature performance.  The front of the pit, previously sparsely populated, filled in.  Fans filed down for a better view of the headline show, an act that promised thunder and crushing Texas groove, covering all who had gathered in scads of red dirt.

The set began with “Hands Up,” not a new song to the surprise of many, but one that effectively communicates what the evening’s agenda will be like.  The bass of John Exall thuds like dense rubber as Big Dad Ritch bellows through his choruses and threatening verses, all the while singing into a giant shotgun-shaped mic stand.  This continued through the first new song of the evening “Come Get It,” and then into another crowd favorite, “El Diablo Rojo.”

The moment of greatest anticipation came in the middle though, as the band rolled into “Angel Fall,” the new single from their surprisingly expansive new album.  The song is unlike any other in the Texas Hippie’s catalogue, a pairing of thrash breakdowns and groove verses unlike any they’ve written, so there was a natural curiosity to see it played live.  The Texans (and one Oklahoman,) obliged, crushing out a song equally as dense as its recorded counterpart, guitarist Cord Pool sharp with his riffs and Ritch equally sharp with his verses.

Something was off, though.  The band’s music was as tight and explosive as it had always been, but the set felt workmanlike; the sense of fun was off, the attitude, such a critical piece of the band’s presentation, was wrong.  Eventually, Big Dad Ritch came sullenly to the stage, and, in an emotional display, explained how the band had lost a dear friend unexpectedly just the day before.  It was a vulnerable moment from an artist, and group of artists, who certainly didn’t need to defend themselves, but it turned the rest of the evening, beginning with a sing along of “Hit it Again,” into a different kind of special experience; a sharing of burden between performer and fan alike.  The crowd, enthused before, added empathy now, helping to urge the band on through their pain, showing their appreciation loudly and frequently.

We finished with the requisite “Pissed Off and Mad About It,” one of the rare times in the evening that THC dipped into their back catalogue.  It was an excellent, gritty performance through difficult circumstances, put on by a group of consummate professionals.  Their effort is appreciated.  Godspeed, gentlemen.

Album Review: Texas Hippie Coalition - "Dark Side of Black"

Most times when at artist returns to their roots in order to find inspiration, it is a lion in winter, a veteran act with much more road in the rearview than the windshield, trying to peel back the veil of years and discover a musical fountain of youth.  By contrast, the Texas Hippie Coalition, still a young band by band standards, have circled the wagons on both their sound and their production, a conscious effort to inject some new but familiar dark blood into the band’s life.  The resulting product is “The Dark Side of Black,” a raw and brutally efficient ten-cut record that promises a heaping helping of dry-rubbed, red (black?) dirt mayhem, that sounds more like a companion to the debut album “Pride of Texas” than it does any of their work in the last five years.

Now metal fans, I know what you’re thinking.  Whenever any band, new or old, starts talking about being ‘heavier’ or ‘darker’ you have to suppress an involuntary shudder.  Those are the predominately meaningless buzzwords that have become ubiquitous in the very heart of our chosen genre – it is the music equivalent of a TV show being ‘edgy.’

But wait a minute!  Skip by album opener “Come Get It” for a second and fixate your attention on the album’s single “Angel Fall.”  You ever see the old movie “Sneakers?”  There’s that scene where Whistler suddenly and accidentally discovers what Janek’s little black box can actually be used for, and he looks up and just says ‘holy…cow.’  That’s sort of the feeling of “Angel Fall.”  This is new.  This is a marriage of southern metal swagger and chorus paired with double-timed thrash beat-downs.  THC hasn’t ever written a song like this, a powerhouse of machine-gunned rage coupled with the band’s penchant for deliberately paced sing-along choruses.  Now we’re getting somewhere.

(Sidebar apropos of nothing – the first pass through, I heard the lyric “dead, red rose” as “Derrick Rose” which I thought was funny because I could only picture Derrick Rose looking up suspiciously from eating a sandwich somewhere, sure he just heard his name on the wind.)

“Dark Side of Black,” as we discussed briefly at the top, starts to synergize with “Pride of Texas” at multiple points, beginning with “Knee Deep,” which sounds nearly like a redux of the earlier album’s “Leavin’” both in tone and pacing.  It’s another reminder that that THC has hit upon a fairly workable formula for slower (dare I suggest ‘romantic’) songs that still have some teeth and a sinister sneer.

And then we’re back on pace, continuing with the new look Texas Hippie Coalition as guitarist Cord Pool and bassist John Exall thunder through “Villain,” setting a deeply rhythmic stage for vocalist Big Dad Ritch to lay down his idiomatic, bravado-laden vitriol, all creating a new version of the same THC bombast that we’ve come to expect over the last decade.
Speaking of Cord Pool, the man is just barely that, easily the youngest member of THC and yet his playing on this album, through some combination of his own maturity and the producing of Pantera veteran Sterling Winfield, belies just how young he really is.  Pool’s winding, artful lead for “Dark Side” is a sort of coming-of-age for him as a guitar player, demonstrating his ability to not just slam out infectious rhythms, but actually compose a multi-faceted aural visage that could play in both high and low metal circles.  This is juxtaposed against his shred for “Rise” (because doesn’t every metal band write a song called “Rise?”) which in combination gives listeners a look of a guitar player who is coming into his own as a shining talent.

And we don’t even have time to talk about “Into the Wall,” which bears a lot of fun, romping punk hallmarks and might be the most fun song on the record.

Now listen, Big Dad Ritch said that he wanted the seams of this album to show, that the production should be raw and fast and borderline crude, to match the band’s fastest writing period for an album ever.  Well, that was achieved, as the grit on this album again takes us back to “Pride of Texas,” Winfield leaving a lot of production magic safely untouched in his closet.  Which is fine for the album as a complete, authentic experience, but does mean that there are some parts which don’t work, as the puzzle pieces don’t always fit cleanly.  In particular, “Hit it Again” didn’t really need to be seven and a half minutes long, as THC is not the band who’s going to use that time to explore different directions.  Accordantly, Ritch’s lyrics are passable but not especially novel or different from what we’ve come to know as THC, bearing the telltale signs of a flurry of inspiration that had to be gotten down before the ideas escaped into the ether.  Of course, the attraction to Big Dad’s bellow has always been the swagger and bravado above all else, which remains perfectly and enjoyably intact for this record.

In the end, “Dark Side of Black” is easily the band’s best record since “Rollin’” and is in contention to be their best album to date, sure to move bodies and develop a sentimental connection with fans.  Big Dad Ritch and John Exall, the originals, have put a lineup around them they can have faith in, as this foursome has found a way to reinvent the band’s sound while not forsaking the hallmarks that got them here.  At the top we talked about rarities in music, and this last is perhaps the rarest and most laudable of all.  “Dark Side of Black” is excellent by any standard.

Readying for the Next Round-Up: A Conversation with The Texas Hippie Coalition

It seemed an impossible dream as little as seven years ago, but The Texas Hippie Coalition has worked and toiled to build their momentum into a surging longhorn stampede that is giving the people what they want and knocking on the door of metal's elite.  As the red dawn of their new album "Dark Side of Black" approaches, Big Dad Ritch sat down with us to talk his band, his direction, the group's chemistry, and barbecue.

D.M: Let’s talk your new record – what’s new and different on this one?

BIG DAD RITCH: I think it’s just a darker approach than previous albums.  We always stay true to ourselves and where we come from, from a Texas attitude and red dirt ways.  But we have really turned up the heavy a notch, you know what I mean?  Try to make this album a little bit heavier than previous albums.

D.M: New producer for this record, too, now working with a guy who used to produce Pantera, what’s that like?

BDR: Oh, it’s freaking awesome.  You know, me and Sterling [Whitfield] have known each other a few years, know each other from a few places, having mutual friends, somebody we can reach out to whenever we need something.  I always wanted to work with Sterling, just in the previous albums, with the label, I wasn’t privy to picking my own producer, they always picked up two or three and sent me down that path.  ‘Pick one of these guys.’  This time around, I just looked straight up and down and said ‘this is who I want to work with,’ and they made it happen for me.

D.M: When people hear Texas Hippie Coalition, their automatic name association is with Pantera – do you resent that connection?  Is it a bad thing that your bands are so closely associated and people might overlook you?

BDR: If it could be a relationship like Waylon [Jennings] and Willie [Nelson], that would be awesome.  I think that the fact that I am most definitely influenced by Phil [Anselmo] and by all things Pantera – I really do think that many of the songs that we write Pantera wouldn’t venture to write.  It’s the attitude that we bring, and also my lyrical styling is a little bit different than Phil’s.  I think the things we do have in common is the true realness of Texas and that real power groove that you can’t escape.  If you listen to the albums in their entirety, people will say ‘oh, I heard a little ZZ Top in there,’ or ‘I heard Pantera there.’  It’s always good to hear those things because those are people you aspire to be like.  But it’s also good when you hear people say ‘I heard some black, dark, kinda Johnny Cash stuff in there.’  That’s when you know that everybody’s getting everything you’re putting into the chili, you know what I mean?

D.M: To that end, your love of Johnny and Hank and Waylon and Willie and all of them is very public, but on the heavy side, who are you looking to for inspiration?

BDR: Inspiration really can come from everywhere.  I can be inspired by a country song, a hip-hop song or really most anything, but mostly lyrics come from life.  When it comes to writing lyrics, I draw from a lot of people, Bob Marlette, Michael Hayes, Cord Pool, you never know what I’m going to pull out of my hat.  That’s how you get stuff like “Knee Deep” which represents the southern red dirt country feel that we have.  Then you get songs like “Hit it Again” which are definitely representative of the southern rock vibe, rock and roll, southern rock.  You get into the heavy stuff, the power groove, you can tell where some of our influences come from.  You listen to me lyrically, you can definitely tell that my influences come from some of the greats, and some of the best out there today.  Like Clutch.  I love Clutch.  I’ve seen Pantera probably thirty-five times I know for sure.  I’ve seen Clutch about twenty times as well.  Anytime somebody says ‘hey, Clutch has got a show, you guys wanna open for them?’ I never even try to find out what I’m getting paid, I just say yes.  I will do that show for the price of the ticket.  Being out on Mayhem [Festival,] there were a lot of great bands the year we were out, we got to see a lot of the heavier side of the music field.  I think all of them, Mushroomhead, Ice T, all of them had a little bit of impact on us, there’s something to this movement, and we don’t have to confine ourselves.  We can become free-roaming.  That’s the great thing about being in this band, we can lend ourselves to a country tone, a red dirt tone, a rock and roll, let’s get out and party Motley Crue-type vibe, and then also get out there and throw the heavy stuff on you that may have been from Black Label Society, Danzig or Korn.  A lot of people try to get on one channel, we’re trying to tune it all in.

D.M: You mentioned Mayhem – you guys were out there, it increased your exposure, there were a lot of people who may have been there for other bands but got tuned in to you – were you disappointed to hear about the death of Mayhem?  How did it help your band?

BDR: When I left [Mayhem] I went to speak with John Reese.  People often say that we’re hard to work with.  Man, if you go to a club and speak with them and the people in the front of the house, they’re gonna let you know that we’re one of the easiest people to work with.  In the moment, we are easy.  The one thing that’s hard is that we don’t pay to play.  And we won’t go on your tour and get paid nothing just to go on your tour.  We’re not young kids with parents taking care of everything.  Every bill that’s being paid, we’re paying that bill.  And that was one thing John Reese said, we kept pushing and pushing and pushing and he did purchase us.  He said one of the reason people may perceive us as being difficult or hard to work with is because we’re no pushovers.  And we’re really not pushovers.  We stand strong for what we believe in, and what we believe in is the almighty dollar [laughs].  John Reese came out to a bunch of the shows, and a lot of the bands on the tour would be surrounding our stage, on our stage and be there with us during our set.  All coming out and even getting in our prayer circle, our positive energy circle, just loving what we do.  John Reese told me ‘I’m so glad I got you guys, because these Mayhem fans are loving you guys, and I’m so glad I got to introduce you to larger crowds.’  At the end of everything, I went to his office and his people and I told him that up until this tour, everything we are to this point, we’d done it on our own.  But everything we do from this point forward, John Reese and Mayhem definitely played a role in what Texas Hippie Coalition is becoming and will become.  They definitely deserve our respect and our gratitude.

D.M: A quick aside – ten, fifteen years ago, did you ever say to yourself ‘someday I’m going to hang out with Ice T?

BDR: [Laughs] Never!  I never did.  I love Body Count.  I have this thing about one-man empires, which is something I aspire to one day be, the likes of Rob Zombie, the likes of Ice T, the likes of Ozzy Osbourne.  Those are my idols and the people I look up to.  Quite often when people talk about me and the people I look up to, it’s Nikki Sixx, bass player, not a frontman.  Pepper Keenan, guitar player, not a frontman.  The people that inspire me to be better like Vinnie Paul.  He’s a drummer, but he has his hands in so many different things and he’s just growing his brand, expanding his name.  When I met Ice T, the day that I first met him at the first [Mayhem] show in California, I stepped off stage and at the bottom of the stairs is Ice T and his son, and he looks up at me and he says ‘man, I just wanted to tell you, you are one bad ass mutha fucker.’  And I said, ‘damn it, Ice T, if we could take the stage and I could give you this mic and you could announce that to all these people, ‘cause I have been telling them for many years now that I am a badass.’ [laughs]  ‘And I believe that a lot of them believe me, but if you go up there and back my claim, I know damn sure they’re gonna believe me.’

D.M: Bending back to your new record – what’s your writing process for an album and was it different this time?

BDR: You know, I am constantly writing lyrics in my head.  I never write anything down on paper until I go into the room to sing.  And then I really only use it for reference, so I know the difference between when I’m saying ‘yes, we will’ and ‘you know we will.’ [laughs]  Just to make sure I’m not tripping over words.  I always keep all that gathered up, and when I officially started putting songs together for this album, I wanted a darker approach.  The process with each and every song writer I work with, we either go to their place or I bring them to my lake house, we work on songs.  This album was all written and produced very quickly.  Fastest I’ve ever done an album.  I wanted to make sure this album was not seamless, that this album wasn’t perfect.  I wanted the seams to show, I wanted there to be imperfection, I wanted there to be a feeling of rawness.

D.M: Cord Pool – when he first joined the band he was super young.  Now that he’s had a few years to settle in, as you watch him, how has he progressed?

BDR: When he first got in the band, my bass player, John Exall, said ‘this guy is not the guy.’  I told that this was the guy who was going to get us down to one guitar player.  This guy is that good, he will one day be revered the same way [Eddie] Van Halen is revered.  He said you’re crazy, it’s never gonna happen, we need to find somebody already in the business, already knows the business, is mature.  Now, my bass player’s like ‘dude, if ever in my life I was wrong and you were right, this is the time, because Cord Pool is the man!’  I said ‘damn it, John, he’s a dang guitar hero and he just doesn’t know it yet.’ And that’s the best kind.  Most of these guys think they’re guitar heroes and they’re just average guitar players.  That’s one of the main reasons I went after Sterling Winfield, was to have someone who was used to working with a great guitar player, but could still pull something immaculate out of someone who already thought they were the best.  We all know Dime[bag Darrell] not only thought he was the best, but he was the best.  Cord is starting to come into his own, he started helping me write some of the songs on this album.  Up to this point he’d only written one song in the past, and on this album he’s a contributing factor on three or four and the complete contributing factor on two.  His mechanical styling throughout the album is on point, with the rhythms, but where he steps above on this album is in his leads.  They are immaculate.  I can honestly say on almost every album I’ve ever made, I am the high point.  I just say that because I’m cocky, I’m arrogant, I’m a dickhead.  On this album, there are times I say Cord shines above all, and when there’s someone in the band who can do that, especially when I think so highly of myself, that’s a mountainous thing.  Cord is a bad boy, and he’s going to be a bad man very soon.

D.M: Is he old enough to drink yet?

BDR: He is!  [Laughs] He is, but he don’t like us to say anything about his drinking in case his mama finds out.

D.M: You and John Exall are the last remaining originals in the band, what’s your relationship with him and are you two the heart and soul of the Texas Hippie Coaltion?

BDR: From the very beginning when I wanted to start this band, I was a fishing guy and I had a company called Five Time Productions where we put on UFC-like fights, we had cages.  I used to say if it starts with an ‘F’, I do it, I fuck, I fight, I fish.  When I wanted to start a band, John was the first guy I talked to.  He said let’s do it.  Ever since the beginning, if there’s fixing to be a gunfight, John is the guy that he’s not waiting for you to ask him to join you in the street to fight these guys, he’s already got his guns on and is handing you your belt with your guns in it and is saying ‘let’s go shoot ‘em.’  [Laughs]  He is ready to go to war, anytime, it doesn’t matter.  When it comes to this cause, which is Texas Hippie Coalition, I am always about it, but in the same breath, John fights for this cause every bit as hard as I do, every minute of every day.

D.M: Getting to the important stuff – who makes the best barbecue in Texas?

BDR: Probably me.  Right now, I’ll tell you, I don’t eat steaks anywhere but at my house, because nobody can cook a steak better than me.  And I don’t very often eat barbecue abroad unless somebody says there’s a great joint.  I do have a little barbecue joint in my hometown called Randy’s, used to be Lou’s, I go down there and I get me some brisket every now and then.  But I never take his barbecue sauce, and I think he gets offended, but you know me, I don’t care.  That’s because my barbecue sauce, Red River Red, is the best sauce in the nation.  You can’t keep it bottled, we sell five hundred gallon vats.

D.M: You’ve been all over the country, have you found anyplace that compares to Texas barbecue?

BDR: Yeah.  Kansas barbecue is a little too sweet for me, Tennessee is just getting something wrong in their barbecue.  Down in Georgia though, every now and then I can get a good dry rub down in Georgia, once in a while I can get some good sauces in Georgia.  They’re very competitive in that market, but I would have to say that Texas is the home of the best bbq.

D.M: I recently was down in Texas and had the whole boot culture explained to me. So, who is your boot ‘guy’?

BDR:  Whatever’s on sale.  You know, I ain’t like those girls out there, I can handle just taking whatever’s on sale.  As long as it’s got real cowhide.

D.M: Does that go for your hats as well?

BDR: Actually, Jason Aldean gives me all my hats.

D.M: Other important stuff – should the Cowboys go get Johnny Manziel?

BDR: [Laughs] Man, I like Johnny Football.  I really do.  I even like his cockiness at A&M.  He kinda reminds me of, well, not every highway patrolman, because there are a lot of good highway patrolman, but he’s kinda like that one highway patrolman who’s just a little too proud to be behind that badge.  Even if that’s kinda conflicting with what I like or dislike, if we only had to go to him three or four games a year, since it seems apparent that if Romo’s in he’s not gonna play a full sixteen games, why not have somebody with the fire of Manziel?  Or hell, if we can pay him very little money, I’ll take Tim Tebow back there, because I think if Romo was out for four-game skid, I think they could at least get us two of those four.  [Laughs]  I’d rather spend the money on defense, definitely defense.  We’ve got one of the greatest offensive lines in the NFL, so we just need to find that running back who can take it to the next level with the running back, because you could see without Murray it hurt us.

D.M: A lot of people’s first exposure to the Texas Hippie Coalition was years ago when you appeared, of all places, on the Jerry Springer show.  How did that happen?

BDR: Man, it was just weird.  Jerry Springer’s bodyguards are all Chicago police.  If you know anything about Chicago, you know Chicago police have one of the hardest jobs on the planet.  Those guys gave us a holler about doing some stuff with them, we were all about it.  Across the United States, it seems like the alpha male types really like to work out to Texas Hippie Coalition.  In New York we get police escorts, in Philadelphia we get police escorts, in Florida the police pull us over [laughs].  Out in Arizona, the SWAT team always sends us messages from out there, all those guys send us stuff about how much they love THC.  I always tell people that if we’re playing in Tulsa, you should rob a bank that night, because every police officer will be at that show [laughs].  Whenever, Pete is his name, he gave us a holler, said hey, why don’t you come do the ‘Jerry Springer’ show, Jerry would love to have you.  So we did the show and did one pay-per-view as well.  It was hilarious fun.  As you know I was a bodyguard in the TV one, and I dang near got thrown down to the ground by a big ole’ girl.  It was one of the funniest things in my life.  Springer, when he was talking about how the guy couldn’t keep his pants up, the guy said ‘well, I’m a big guy, I can’t keep my pants up,’ and Jerry asked me to stand up and said ‘he’s a big guy and his pants are up and you can’t see his underwear,’ so I told him that’s because I don’t wear any.  The crowd started chanting ‘show us!’ so, it’s not on the TV show, but right to Jerry’s face, I said ‘it’s my goal in life that more people see my ass than see your face, Jerry, so here we go’ and I dropped trou and let everybody see my ass!  [Laughs]

D.M: We’ll get you out of here on this – as you said, you’re not kids, you have some perspective and experience.  Dating back to the beginning of your band, what’s something you could do differently if you could, and what’s your advice to young bands out there?

BDR: I probably wouldn’t do anything differently.  One thing I might do is realize a little bit earlier is that every guy you take the stage with the first time is not going to be there the hundredth time.  And that every guy you take the stage with the hundredth time is not going to be there the three hundredth time.  In this band, we’ve seen guys – Wes Wallace left and came back, Timmy Braun has left and come back, The Kid [Ryan Bennett] left and came back.  We’ve got a lot of good friends we’ve made along the way, but everybody’s gotta follow their own career path.  Some guys just couldn’t ride the bull for the full eight seconds, so they left for that reason.  Other guys just couldn’t keep their nose to the grindstone and pay attention to what’s important in the task at hand.  If you go out there every night thinking you gotta do drugs with everyone that offers, of if you gotta go drink with everyone that offers to buy you a drink, the next day when you go to take the stage, you won’t be a hundred percent.  And those people in the audience are paying for the hundred percent show, they’re not paying for the eighty-five percent show.  So, in life, I wish that at an early age I would have understood that I am gonna hurt relationships and I am gonna lose friends.  I wish I would have realized at an early point that I don’t have to drag all this on until the point that it becomes painful for everyone.  My advice to anyone out there with music is that listen, you’ve got a band.  There’s four of ya.  One of you quits, that’s doesn’t mean the other three have to quit.  There’s another guy out there.  That drummer quits, believe me, there’s another drummer out there who wants that spot, who wants to be in that band.  Go get him.  Get him in there and keep on going.  If you don’t think a band can go on going through endless amounts of people, Fleetwood Mac’s one of the biggest bands ever in the history of music, and they’ve had over sixteen band members. [Laughs]