Jason and the Scorchers are aptly named. After 30 years on the road, the Nashville, Tenn.-based country rock band continues to blow away audiences with their antics on acoustic guitars ablaze with boundless energy and seasoned with the twang of a honky-tonk harmonica. They arrive at the Iota Club on Friday semi-direct from Rams Head Tavern via Pittsburgh and suburban Philadelphia.
The subject is “Halcyon Times,” their first album with all new material since 1996, an accomplishment befitting the Lifetime Achievement Award winners at the 2008 Americana Music Conference. The opening number, “Moonshine Guy,” is glorious fun and leads the listener right into fresh new songs that go back to their roots with vigor, the obligatory country pathos and the dynamic power ably expressed in “Shot Down Again” to leave everyone bathed in sheer joy.
Jason Ringenberg, the force behind the band’s staying power, and zesty guitarist Warren Hodges are the only two remaining from the original lineup, but bassist Al Collins and Swedish drummer Pontus Snibb supply the perfect components to keep the ensemble at the top of their game. A recent foray through Britain elicited raves from reviewers and fans alike.
“The English always like guitar rock music and they dig the South thing, so our work really suits them,” Ringenberg said. “When we’ve brought in new band members over the years, we’ve looked for musicians who have respect for what we’ve done in the past but are willing to bring their own personalities to the table.” With a chuckle, he added, “I don’t think we’ve changed too much since we started out because you can’t polish a mule.”
Ringenberg refers to his early life on a farm in Illinois where he grew up listening to an eclectic menu of American roots music, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Van Halen and the usual suspects of the era. During college, he started his own band, Shakespeare’s Riot. Afterward, he headed for Nashville and soon gathered a band with the loud, ground-searing snarl that thrives today. There was nothing for it but to call them Jason and the Scorchers. Things have only gotten better for the group that’s now in its prime.
In 2002, he went back to his farm roots to amuse his young daughters. So many of their pals squealed with delight that today he often performs as Farmer Jason all decked out in overalls and a straw hat playing music to tickle children of many backgrounds. “A Day at the Farm With Farmer Jason” was followed by “Rockin’ in the Forest With Farmer Jason,” both popular with the younger set that one day will clamor for tickets to hear Jason and the Scorchers live.
“I love what I’m doing and never have time to think back about my accomplishments because there’s too much left to do,” he said. “I’m proudest of the fact that after 30 years and 5,000 shows, I’ve never missed a show. I hope I come off sometime in the future with a sense of our history, but the future is more important. Nothing pleases me more than playing for a group of young people and having them come up afterward to tell me, ‘You rock!’ ”
