1596 - THE ROAD HAMMERS II (2009)

THE ROAD HAMMERS
''THE ROAD HAMMERS II''
FEB 2009
DOWNLOAD

1/Homegrown
Jason McCoy /3:06
2/Gettin' Screwed
Clayton Bellamy / Corbett Frasz / Jason McCoy / Robert Ellis Orrall /3:20
3/I Don't Know When to Quit
Ashley Gorley / Bryan Simpson / Bryant Simpson /3:19
4/Cowboy 'Til I Die
Clayton Bellamy / Willie Mack / Jason McCoy /3:28
5/Workin' Hard at Lovin' You
Byron Hill / Vicky McGehee /3:36
6/I've Got the Scars to Prove It
Jason McCoy /3:33
7/Thank God I'm a Country Boy
John Martin Sommers /2:56
8/Freewheelin'
Bart Allmand / Danny Myrick / Kip Raines / Jeffrey Steele /3:55

Scott Baggett /Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mixing, Organ, Percussion, Producer
Clayton Bellamy /Guitar, Vocals
Pat Buchanan /Guest Artist, Guitar (Electric), Harmonica
Tom Bukovac /Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Chris Byrne /Bass, Vocals
Chad Cromwell /Drums, Guest Artist
Pat Flynn /Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic)
Tony Harrell /Guest Artist, Hammond B3, Organ, Organ (Hammond), Piano
Mike Johnson /Guitar (Steel)
Tim Marks /Bass, Guest Artist
Jason McCoy /Guitar, Producer, Vocals
Greg Morrow /Drums, Guest Artist, Percussion
Russ Pahl /Banjo, Dobro, Guest Artist, Lap Steel Guitar, Pedal Steel
Billy Panda /Guitar (Acoustic)
Alison Prestwood /Guitar (Bass)
Rich Redmond /Drums, Percussion
Adam Shoenfeld /Guitar
Mike Webb /Guest Artist, Piano

1595 - THE ROAD HAMMERS - Blood Sweat & Steel (2008)

THE ROAD HAMMERS
''BLOOD SWEAT & STEEL''
JUN 2008
48:57
DOWNLOAD

1/I’m a Road Hammer/Denny Carr, Jason McCoy/4:04
2/Workin’ Hard at Lovin’ You/Byron Hill, Vicky McGehee, John Rich/3:34
3/The Hammer Going Down/Chris Knight, Dean Miller/5:07
4/East Bound and Down/Jerry Reed/3:13
5/I Don’t Know When to Quit/Ashley Gorley, Dick Simpson/3:18
6/Girl on the Billboard/Walter Haynes, Hank Mills/4:04
7/I’ve Got the Scars to Prove It/Larry Haack, McCoy, Bobby Taylor/3:33
8/Nashville Bound/Clayton Bellamy, McCoy/4:26
9/Overdrive/McCoy, Robert Ellis Orrall/3:49
10/Keep on Truckin’/Scott Baggett, Bellamy, Chris Byrne, Carr, McCoy/3:57
11/Willin’/Lowel T. George/4:09
12/A Heart with Four Wheel Drive/Billy Maddox, Paul Thorn/3:44
13/Flat Tires/Bloopers, Out-Takes ‘N Such/1:59

Tony Harrell /Organ (Hammond), Piano
Russ Pahl /Guitar
Billy Panda /Guitar (Acoustic)
Alison Prestwood /Guitar (Bass)
Rich Redmond /Drums, Percussion
Adam Shoenfeld /Guitar
Glenn Worf /Bass

REVIEW
by Rovi
The Road Hammers are Canadians with a serious jones for hardcore country music and heavy metal guitar, a blend of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard, and AC/DC. This isn't anything new. The Supersuckers have been doing it for a decade and Hank III's blend of punk and country has plenty of metallic antecedents. The band was started by Jason McCoy, winner of the Canadian Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year for several years running. With likeminded bandmates he cut The Road Hammers in 2005. The album came in at number one on the Canadian country charts, spawned four Top Ten hits, and won a Juno (Canadian Grammy) for Country Recording of the Year. They also starred in their own Canadian reality series, which didn't hurt sales any. Now they're steering their semis southward in an attempt to capture the hearts of American country and rock lovers. Blood, Sweat & Steel is a re-sequenced version of The Road Hammers with a three new tracks including "Workin' Hard at Lovin' You," a stompin' redneck love song by John Rich of Big & Rich's Nashville MuzikMafia. It's a screaming pop-metal country tune, and with the magic touch of the MuzikMafia, it has hit potential. McCoy's snarling, macho delivery is perfect. "I Don't Know When to Quit" is a sexy, slightly sleazy track, with Hammond B-3 and wailing pedal steel giving its celebration of excess a primal power. "I Got the Scars to Prove It" takes a more insightful look at self-destruction, a slightly sentimental tune that takes full responsibility for the protagonist's stupid mistakes. It's another strong track. The Canadian hits are all here and sounding great. "I'm a Road Hammer" is a good truck-drivin' tune that McCoy sings in the manner of John Anderson with Allman-style twin guitars wailing in the background, and Jerry Reed's "East Bound and Down" combines acoustic banjo and bass with icy lead electric guitar and ringing Dobro. "Nashville Bound" is a bluegrass-flavored tale of the tribulations of the road, while "Girl on the Billboard," the Del Reeves/Jim & Jesse hit, gets a credible remake. There's nothing earthshaking here, but The Road Hammers deliver the tunes with enough energy and high spirits to keep your pedal to the metal.

1594 - THE ROAD HAMMERS (2005)

THE ROAD HAMMERS
''THE ROAD HAMMERS''
2005
50:56
DOWNLOAD

1/Ignition /0:08
2/I'm a Road Hammer
Jason McCoy /4:05
3/Overdrive
Jason McCoy / Robert Ellis Orrall /3:49
4/Keep on Truckin'
Scott Baggett / Chris Byrne / Jason McCoy /3:55
5/Girl on the Billboard
Walter Haynes / Hank Mills /4:07
6/Heart with Four Wheel Drive
Billy Maddox / Paul Thorn /3:41
7/East Bound and Down
Jerry Reed /3:13
8/Call It a Day
Steve Fox / Jason McCoy /4:03
9/Nashville Bound
Jason McCoy /4:23
10/Willin' /4:05
11/The Hammer Goin' Down
Chris Knight / Dean Miller /5:15
12/I'm a Road Hammer (Reprise)
Jason McCoy /5:35
13/Flat Tires (Bloopers, Out-Takes 'N Such)
Jason McCoy /2:00

Scott Baggett /Keyboards, Producer, Theremin
Pat Buchanan /Saxophone
Chris Carmichael /Strings
Chad Cromwell /Animal Sounds, Drums, Sound Effects
K.K. Falkner /Noise, Vocals
Jason McCoy /Guitar, Producer
Russ Pahl /Banjo, Guitar
Bryan Sutton /Guitar, Mandolin
Glenn Worf /Bass

REVIEW
BY RICK ANDERSON
When you cultivate a sort of Motörhead-meets-Charlie Daniels visual image but all of your songs have to do with the joys and sorrows of driving a truck, then you're shooting for a pretty narrow demographic. That's not to say the demographic isn't there, but it may not be who you think it is. The group most likely to be attracted by the Road Hammers are the ironic-trucker-hat kids, the ones who get a kick out of Big Rig songs because they're hokey in a hip way, whereas the real truck-driving fans, the Hank Snow and Jerry Reed crowd, are probably going to have a hard time getting past the tattoos, the pointy sideburns, and the presence (however tasteful) of a theremin. But that's not the Road Hammers' most urgent problem. What they really need to deal with is the fact that although they play with real skill and sing with resonant energy, they sound like they're still trying to settle into a sound of their own. They give the Del Reeves classic "Girl on the Billboard" a fun, raunchy Bakersfield tinge, and they generate nice momentum on "Overdrive" (despite one of the dumbest opening couplets ever to besmear the beginning of a country song), but too often it feels like they're casting about for a groove to settle into. Their take on Jerry Reed's "East Bound and Down" just reminds you how much fun Jerry Reed songs are when he does them; "Call It a Day" is the worst kind of soggy road-warrior-longing-for-home bathos, and when they call out the rednecks on "Nashville Bound" it comes across as a really bad marketing decision. The album ends on three successive notes of unspeakable lameness: a reprise of the title track (why?), followed by several minutes of audio bloopers (why?), followed by a track titled "Absolutely Nothing" -- seven seconds of silence. (Dudes, seriously. Why?) These guys have got definite promise, but they're still a ways from realizing it.