(Patrick Daily- June 5, 1997 - Saint Louis Post Disp.

 

The voice that leaps from the CD player is hard and flat, standing firm in the raucous swirl of banjo, fiddle and mandolin, singing about working "at the sawmill six days a week/and it still ain't enough to make ends meet."

 

It's a slightly different voice I hear over the phone later that day, one that's gently twanged, full of the hesitations and upward inflections of someone born and bred in hill country. Thoughtful and quick with a soft laugh in conversation, Gary Gordon holds nothing back when he sings.

The Gordons, that being Gary, his wife Roberta, and assorted friends and family, have just released "End Of A Long Hard Day" on Reception Records of Carbondale, Ill. It's 12 cuts that range from a scorching instrumental workout on the traditional "Johnny Bring The Jug Around The Hill," through several original songs and down-home versions of a couple of Gretchen Peters-penned tunes.

 

"That's a really interesting question," Gordon says, asked if their brand of acoustic music is strictly bluegrass. "Sometimes, if a person came in on a certain part of our show, they'd say, `man, this is like, hip folk music, or something.'

 

"Some people have really exclaimed about our music being `mountain soul,' specifically with my wife singing, although the album probably doesn't showcase her voice that well. If you heard her live, you'd probably agree, mountain soul might not be a bad tag, `cause I've seen people with tears in their eyes.

 

"But we're pretty flexible with it, and I think the bluegrass heading would be fair," Gordon adds.

 

Whatever you call it, the Gordons are decidedly acoustic nowadays, though they're no strangers to lugging amps about and plugging in. Gary and Roberta began performing together in 1974, playing festivals and colleges in the Midwest, before relocating to North Carolina for a few years in the `80s.

 

"We worked out of Charlotte, N.C., a pretty busy city with a lot of travelers in the area," Gordon remembers. He pauses, thinking back harder, trying to be true to the music they played and those who listened.

"It would've been more of a country audience," he finally says, "but then we'd play these, I guess I'd call them hip cafes, where'd you'd have everything from beatniks to hippies to punks. There, we'd do an acoustic show and blend electric in.

 

"Bear in mind," he practically warns, "our push now is total acoustic. We use all mikes and no pickups."

 

Today, the Gordons also include first cousin Curtis Jay Hiner on upright bass and Bill Cross on banjo. David Johnson has been their fiddler since they met him in North Carolina, though he's also a member of fellow Tarheel Randy Travis' road band.

 

"Well, Randy's so rich he hardly has to work," Gordon laughs matter-of-factly, envy being something lesser souls indulge in. "I think they do 50 jobs a year, tops," freeing Johnson for the more down-to-earth gigs that the Gordons have lined up for the summer.

 

The Gordons will be playing a free show at the Rend Lake Amphitheater Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Rend Lake is off I-57, just south of Mt. Vernon, Ill. You should be able to find "End Of A Long Hard Day" at a Streetside store, or you can contact Reception Records at 1-618-529-8081. The Web site address is www.recep.com.

 

And lest we forget, those roots rockin' daddies the Skeletons have a new disc out on Hightone Records out of Oakland, Calif. Hightone is probably the best indie country label around, home to Dave Alvin, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, and the great Johnny Rodriguez.

 

The Skeletons signing to the label elicited a piece in Billboard magazine a while back. As a bonus, "Nothing To Lose" is probably the only release this year that makes room in its booklet to thank Beatle Bob and Boxcar Willie.