By Brian Rock
Music City Maverick, Mac Leaphart continues to cook on his fourth album, Motel Breakfast. Celebrating the simple things in life, he sings of mountain vistas, Texas shaped waffles, and the music of John Prine. Combining Appalachian musical styles with pub rock attitudes, Leaphart comes across like a southern-fried Small Faces.
“Shake a Leg,” exemplifies the lo-fi, high-energy of Leaphart and his band. An unscripted aside to the sound booth introduces the track; indicating the casual, take me as I am attitude of the group. An acoustic guitar intro is soon joined by peppery fiddle strains and a propulsive drum beat as Leaphart launches into his story. Singing, “Well, she was hot as Nashville chicken, he was cool as a Firebird hood;” he introduces a young couple on the verge of getting married at the local city hall. Pausing for a moment, the bride to be asks, “Babe, if this ain’t love, what’s it instead?” her groom to be answers, “It’s damn near close enough, so come on now shake a leg.” Possibly rash, possibly reckless, the young star-crossed lovers dive into the great unknown head first. Whether they get their happily ever after is irrelevant as Leaphart reminds listeners that life is for living, not pondering. Urging to seize the day, Leaphart sings, “Trains don’t just hang around the station. Get on down the track, chugging on ahead.” The lively fiddle and drums reinforce the sentiment with a coaxing, choogling rhythm.
“Ain’t No Pistol,” is a rousing, rockabilly ode to Leaphart’s straight shooting wife. “Girl from Tuscaloosa,” continues the praise for his marital muse with references to her hometown and a heaping helping of pedal steel. “Rosey,” is a honky-tonk tribute to the flower of love and the women who love them. “Blue Ridge Blue,” adds touches of bluegrass to celebrate the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Belly Full of Peaches,” is a talking blues tribute to the late great John Prine and his unpretentious take on spirituality. “Ode to the Thirsty Beaver,” is a mid-tempo outlaw country tribute to one of the world’s greatest honky-tonks. “Walking Slow Down a Busy Street,” adds a funky bass line to the outlaw country vibe to celebrate the joy of living life at your own pace. “Rock & Roll Hey,” is a fiddle fueled pub rocker that captures the energy of a live Leaphart show where he’s “slinging love right off the stage.” The song would feel right at home on the Stone’s seminal, “Exile On Main Street.” It’s rock and roll and country bound together with duct tape and bailing wire.
Showing a more pensive side, Leaphart reflects on, “stallions in the flats and girls in cowboy hats,” on the tender, “Pony, MT.” Adding a subtle, tex-mex rhythm on, “Letters from Earth, he reflects on the scenery of the Great Plains and the wry wit of Mark Twain. “Motel Breakfast,” is a “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” style account of life on the road. As Leaphart laments months away from home, sparsely populated dance halls, and seedy motels; he takes comfort that, “They got waffles in the lobby shaped just like Texas. Life is good. Let’s go get some breakfast.” No matter what life throws at you, remember to take time to stop and smell the roses, or at least the syrup on your waffles.
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Brian Rock
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