THE NEW YORK FUND
A few years ago, I had a conversation with my friend Chris Baker about the definition of "southern rock" which led to the following quandaries:
1. Does "southern rock" by definition have to be from the south, or has it supersceded it's own originations to become a genre more than a locale descriptor.
And
2. Does "southern rock" have to be from America? Or, if it keeps with number 1, can it be from southern Europe or South Africa? If so, would it even be worth keeping the title of "southern rock" due to it's lack of clarity?
The band that really illustrated the rub of these two questions in the initial discussion was Bad Company. When I hear "Feel Like Makin' Love" I instantly figure a South Carolina redneck is taking someone's virginity. It seems to me like the utmost example of dirty white boy music, just a generation removed from Kid Rock or 3 Doors Down.
The problem, of course, is that Bad Company are British. Nothing about that song says fish and chips to me. In my ears it sounds almost as American as Grand Funk Railroad. But if it is to be termed as "southern rock" we are forced to immediately accept that "southern rock" is now a meaningless moniker used to term a genre and not actually describe it.
Of course, to get technical, wouldn't a large majority of "rock" related music today be British (aka Beatlesque) in it's origination? Thus it may be a little hard to try to term any style as completely American...
But all that being as it is (and completely arbitrary in actuality), I bring up this debate as a means to introduce a newer band that might help perpetuate the discussion:
The New York Fund.
This London-based band not only sounds "American" and "southern" (to some extent), they named themselves after an American state.
Think Ryan Adams when he is not trying to sound like Willie Nelson or the Old 97s when they aren't trying to go completely honky-tonk.
The band's self-released "Guns E.P." is made up of six brilliant alt-country tunes.
Check out more info and some MP3s at fuelforfriends.
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