It all started with a recording session in June of 2006 to record
their song "If Jesus was Whiskey" which became the soundtrack to a
scene in a movie starring William Shatner and Casey Kasem ("Circus of
Life", coming to a film festival near you) and grew into Shoestring
Strap's second album. With live performances slowing down while their
Bass player and his wife prepared to have their first child the band
holed up in the studio between January and April of 2007 and got to
trackin'.
Entitled "Mudgrass," their own name for their raw and dirty mixture of
country, bluegrass and bluesy rock, the fourteen-track opus is an
unapologetically thick and heavy dose of tunes that can be both
heartfelt and satirical at the same time. Their sound is one that
satisfies fans of country while rocking for the rockers, gets bluesy
for the bluesheads while getting a bit high and lonesome for the
bluegrass lovers, and has sobering moments for the teetotalers as it
passes the bottle around for the drinkers. At its core most of the
album is built up from tracks recorded at a show in December of 2006
in San Diego and pulsates with the energy of the hot stage lights,
sweaty fans, and $2 PBRs. With unlimited studio time in their own
studio they were able to arrange the songs in new and interesting ways
and even wrote a new mariachi song.
Composed of guitarist Dave Lowenstein, drummer Mark Markowitz, steel
guitarmeister Brennan Orndorff, bassist Kent Stephens and mandolin
player Keith Tenzer, Shoestring Strap has dealt out a CD full of
butt-rockin', booze drinkin', speaker blowin' insanity that is
difficult to find comparison for.