Jason Ringenberg – Best Tracks and Side Tracks 1979-2007

For those of you to whom the name is unfamiliar, let me introduce Jason Ringenberg. Raised just south of Sheffield, Illinois, by pig farming parents, Ringenberg went on to form ‘Jason and The Scorchers’ and is widely credited as creating ‘Cowpunk’, the fusion of Punk Rock, Country, Blues and Folk that went on to mutate in to Americana and Alt.Country as we know it today. Before Ryan Adams and Wilco there was Whiskeytown and Uncle Tupelo. Before all of these was Jason And The Scorchers. Renowned for their live shows, the suit Jason used to wear for these shows now hangs in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. What is collected here is intended as a primer for Jason’s solo material, which includes his duets with the likes of The Wildhearts, Steve Earle and Kristi Rose, as well as material from his albums for children under the ‘Farmer Jason’ name (in which he sings songs about animals, and plays afternoon shows, adults only allowed if they are accompanying children!) This said, Ringenberg is unable to resist the urge to re-record some old Scorchers material for good measure too.The album opens with a re-recording of ‘Shop It Around’, a Scorchers standard, and pretty much your prototypical alt country sound, the chiming guitars and Jason’s yelp all contributing to sound like a countrified R.E.M at their height. 'The Life of The Party' is a typical bar room boogie of a tale about a no good girl living the life, with everyone but Jason. 'Bible and a Gun', the duet with Steve Earle is pure roots, banjo plucked in the background, thunder sound samples and gentle fiddling from the fantastically named Fats Kaplin. The album skips from track to track, seamlessly blending the disparate styles into an entertaining format: even 'Punk Rock Skunk', his kids song about a skunk wanting a mohawk, complete with the line: "I have a leather jacket, my jeans are full of holes/and if I lived in England I would be on the dole”, (which manages to countrify The Ramones (complete with a childs chorus of Hey Ho Lets Go)) is great fun, even if it might be a little too ‘novelty’ for some. 'One Less Heartache', Ringenberg’s duet with The Wildhearts provides the great mid 90’s single that never was, a classic bit of country pop rock.The “Side-tracks” half of the record, is Ringenberg explains, a mixture of out takes, demo versions and alternative takes. Opening with the frankly mental 'Lovely Christmas', a Farmer Jason track which fuses a schmaltzy trad. country Christmas croon about how wonderful Christmas is, and then brakes it up with mad keyboard driven stomp about how Christmas will ruin him financially. Followed by a tale of a mustachioed moose by the name of Bruce, who happens to be on the loose (Yup, It’s another Farmer Jason number), this should really set ‘quirk’ alarm bells ringing, and yet for some reason it doesn’t. It does seem like Ringenberg is trying to hard to be kooky, more just trying to bring fun, good music to kids (rather this than Hannah Montana). Some of the material here isn’t of the highest quality, and you get the feeling the Side-tracks section will be one for the more established fans.I was a relative newcomer to Jason Ringenberg (and the Scorchers in fact), and with that in mind, this compilation has been enough to dig a bit deeper. It is easy to see how Ringenberg and co’s melding of country, rock, punk, and blues has influenced many of the days current heroes, and this record may just be the perfect introduction. Sure, it’s a little rough round the edges, but you suspect Jason wouldn’t want it any other way. 81%Links Jason Ringenberg [official site] [label]