Pug Johnson – From a Beaumont Bar
What makes some Country music endeavors interesting aren’t the singers who sound as polished as a big crystal Tiffany goblet. No, sir. What we have here is a vocalist who has a definitive signature sound dipped liberally in a rich homegrown sauce made up of accordion sweet notes & quirky vocals stirred into a guitar consommé, with lyrical ingenuity, fiddle delicacy & integrated by a cool groove that’s at once filled with verve & vigor. Did I say humor? Humor.
Yes, “Bubbles In My Beer,” & “Where Dowlen Meets Phelan,” are well-crafted pieces. Pug has a reliable Jimmie Dale Gilmore undeniable country timbre & drawl that sounds like that young’un in tight pants who works down at the fillin’ station, sings under the hood while workin’ on the engine. Must be dirt in the fuel line.
This 3rd set by Texas son Pug Johnson has 15 musical stories dressed up for a Saturday night hoot From a Beaumont Bar (Dropped Oct 23/Thirty Tigers/The Orchard/Break Maiden Records/44:00) & it’s delightful. Period. The LP is made up of originals & some interpretive songs garnished with short vignettes. Produced with skill by Ryan (percussion) & Pug Johnson (vocals/guitars) the country rhythmic hues are gently barbed with Tex-Mex seasoning. The band is righteously engaged.
Pug doesn’t just sing songs to make an impression; he adds some highbrow ingredients through his intonation & phrasing. He knows how to separate the songs that are glossy red candied apples from those that are chewing tobacco. Pug adds a good punch to his romantic objective (“Just To Love You”). And with “Can’t Fall In Love With You,” Pug sloshes about in an old fashion ‘50’s R&R upbeat jukebox style just ripe for dancing on sawdust floors with a pretty girl warmer than grocery store potbellied stove.
The man is creative, skillful & the tunes have lots of traditional value made even more durable through Pug’s countrified barroom approach. “The Closest Thing To You” is old-school country but Pug gives it a modern twist. He sounds like he sang it in a suit with Vitalis in his hair, wearin’ no overalls or ponytail. Class in a downhome rural song.
A foot-stomping rollicking barrelhouse piano soaked “Hangaround” is fun. An old-fashion “oom-pah-pah” tune ends the set on “Lowering the Bar” as humorous as one of the best Roger Miller tunes with a greasy burger & beer. Wonderful. It’s like a box of Whitman chocolates. Each piece is a surprise, sticky & sweet but goooood.
Highlights – “Bubbles In My Beer,” “Where Dowlen Meets Phelan,” “Tucson,” “Shuckin’ & Jivin’,” “Just To Love You,” “Can’t Fall In Love With You,” “The Closest Thing To You,” “Hangaround” & “Lowering the Bar.”
Musicians – Jonathon Matthews (guitars/vocals), Kristopher Schoen (drums/percussion/vocals), Jimmy Hartman (bass/vocals), Caleb Melo (pedal steel/vocals), Scotty Alexander (fiddle), Jan Flemming (piano/accordion/vocals), William Landin (tuba), Patricia Badgett & Matthew Lewis (vocals).
Color image courtesy of Ingrid Fortenberry. CD @ Apple & https://www.pugjohnson.com/epk