J.T. Blanton
Live From the Bullpen

by David Lauver

"S he likes country music when it's groovin'...things that go twang in the night." If those lines come close to describing your musical tastes, you'll enjoy "J.T. Blanton Live From The Bullpen."

The recording, made at the lounge of Nashville's Stockyard restaurant, captures much of the intensity of the live shows by J.T. Blanton and his "Things That Go Twang in the Night Band." Not that you'll find a lot of twang in the vocals by country rocker Blanton, but there's some definite twang from guitar strings bending furiously to keep pace with his high-energy performance.

As a member of the rock band "The Royal Court of China," Blanton collaborated on two critically acclaimed albums for A&M Records. And now--although he'll never be confused with a hat act--the transition to more country-flavored music has come naturally for this Nashville native.

Blanton is the writer or co-writer of nine of the album's thirteen songs. His melodies tend to be driving and danceable, and the mid-to-uptempo tunes from this performance are more numerous and most memorable. His lyrics offer some fresh and fun takes on traditional country themes.

"Ain't No Dancin'" recreates the night Blanton was ousted from Tootsie's Orchid Lounge after enthusiastic fans refused to stop dancing. (This honky-tonk shrine actually had no dance permit!) "You can smoke and drink as much as you like, but there ain't no dancin' in Tootsie's Orchid Lounge tonight," Blanton sings as he describes the raid by Nashville's finest. It could be Lower Broadway's answer to "Alice's Restaurant."

Law and order gets a second backhanded salute with "Revenooer Man," a hard-charging rendition of a George Jones hit. If the T-men in those "made-for-the-drive-in" films had as much horsepower as Blanton's vocals, the future NASCAR drivers running moonshine would have had a lot more to worry about.

"Long Neck Connected to the Beer Joint," another song co-written by Blanton, provides a lesson in honky-tonk anatomy. This up tempo "case study" documents the long-suspected links among longnecks, beer joints, heartaches and teardrops.

Things take a spirited if not altogether spiritual turn in "Big Revival" and "Church Goin' Man." Blanton declares that a good camp meeting has "everything they need to get everything done--the pulpit, the preacher, and the prodigal son." From a prodigal's perspective (he's been "savin' up sins" for the occasion), he paints scenes of the "Big Revival" that are part prayer meeting, part gospel concert, and part county fair.

Maybe it's that same guy in the second of these songs who's trying to get his girl back with the promise that, "I'll be a church goin' man. I'll even wear a suit and tie--never backslide--into the devil I am."

From his performances at the Bullpen and Tootsie's and his standing-room-only nights at the Bluebird Cafe, Blanton already has developed quite a following in Nashville. This impressive live album shows that J.T. Blanton is ready to be called up from the Bullpen to take his place in the starting rotation of a major-league label.