Merle Jagger is proud to announce the upcoming release of Trash Talking Guitars on July 15 via JTM Music.
It is often said that everything is in a name when it comes to summing up a person’s position. If so, Merle Jagger says all that needs to be shared about alternative guitar, rockabilly, swing and retro based band Merle Jagger. Led by Mark Christian, whose own reputation as a top-notch axeman gives him considerable notoriety, the trio includes drummer Johnny Ray and bassist Gabe Davis.
The origins of the name may seem somewhat murky, but given their influences – in particular, guitar greats Joe Maphis, Jimmy Bryant, Roy Buchannan, Danny Gatton and Merle Travis (the latter lent his name to the budding band…we can only guess where the other half of the nickname comes from) – their signature sound is quickly apparent. Additionally, these musicians galvanized a style of guitar playing that would become a standard for country music for many years to come.
Consequently, he became etched in the sound that marked Merle Jagger’s debut Rancho Los Angeles, a series of classic country-flavored jams and instrumental offerings. Nevertheless, Christian realized that playing countless instrumentals on the road would not be enough to bring the band the wider recognition they sought and deserved.
This brings us to the present and Trash Talking Guitars. In this new album, Christian assumes the dual role of singer and guitarist while retaining that instrumental sense that inspired him and his colleague at the start. Dubbing their new approach, “Ranch Rock”, the songs echo a classic country style with teary ballads in beers full of loss and heartbreak. Not that they’ve completely abandoned the focus on instrumentals; the album’s final entry, “Ranch Rock Revival,” provides a vigorous workout that’s sure to leave listeners blown away.
The new album finds Christian teaming up with producer/engineer Michael Dumas, a studio veteran known for overseeing most of Dwight Yoakum’s early albums at his legendary Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California. Christian and Dumas share a long relationship that dates back to the turn of the millennium when they worked together overseeing the efforts of a number of bands and artists at Mad Dog before the studio closed.
Trash Talking Guitars was recorded at Horse Latitude Studios in Glendale, the facility Dumas built for Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger when he was live sound engineer for the Doors reunion tours. It was then quite naturally that the two men chose to meet again. Indeed, Christian credits the contribution of Dumas and members of Dwight Yoakum’s band, with whom he had worked during these previous sessions and productions, with inspiring him to create the original concept for his band Merle Jagger.
“My vision for Trash Talking Guitars was drawn from my love of country, rock and 70s country/rock sounds,” Christian says of reflecting on the new album. “It was a time when recording technology and freedom of artistic expression were at an all-time high.”
Unsurprisingly, Trash Talking Guitars emphasizes riffs, solos, guitar lines, classic melodies, and vocal harmonies that reflect sounds of a vintage variety. Likewise, the background vocals share a similar style, one that layers harmonies in a way reminiscent of how The Eagles, Wings, Waylon Jennings, Pink Floyd, Merle Haggard, the Allman Brothers Band and Pure Prairie League would adapt their backs during the day. .
Their early efforts brought the group’s efforts to fruition. The instrumentals that Merle Jagger offered to his audience early in their career proved the potential. Indeed, their live concerts built a following that led to them gaining popular and subsequent success. One evening, after a sold-out show, a representative from an independent label showed up and signed them on the spot. From that moment momentum began to build. Once Rancho Los Angeles was released in 2006, it quickly garnered interest from several college radio stations across the United States. Legendary DJ Nic Harcourt featured the music of Merle Jagger on his show on KCRW in Los Angeles. It soon became apparent that the band’s country guitar instrumentals provided the impetus for a fresh new sound that could catch the ears of indie fans.
Critics also reacted positively. All Music Guide described their approach with enthusiastic precision: “Perhaps this trio of Los Angeles-based session musicians called their exuberant electric hillbilly experience ‘Merle Jagger’ because ‘Mick Haggard’ lacked the good ringtone, but the hybrid idea is bright and clear – merging bluegrass, hard country-rock and jazz into an instrumental cauldron unlike anything these particular genres have heard before.Driven by electric guitar, banjo and Mark Christian’s searing, lightning-fast mandolin, it’s a sh*tkicker’s dream, an hour of fast, loud party music that flies in the face of much of today’s ultra-slick country-pop Think Johnny Cash at speed, and you got off to a good start on the slamming opener, “Ranchero,” and on “Ranch Party.” They crank it up even more for the appropriately titled “Hillbilly No. 9.” , which makes you wonder how much the eight a others were incredibly rock. ‘In Through the Out Take’ is a bit more conventionally bluesy, but ‘Trash Tornado’ is a place where the surf guitar carries a cowboy.”
Another reviewer called it “Hillbilly tunes mixed with influences from the country and rock scene of the past decades… A derivation of country star Merle Haggard and rock symbol Mick Jagger. But Merle Jagger is more. The eclectic electric guitar of Christian fueled by flat-choice treasures and banjo sounds and topped with influences from Jimi Hendrix or Keith Moon, is the hallmark of this all-instrumental band.Performing all the original tunes, the distinct sound of this group is definitely something to look for.
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