Savin' the Honky Tonk (CD - 2004)

Personnel: Mark Chesnutt (vocals); John Wesley Ryles (background vocals); Jimmy Ritchey (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Brent Mason (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar, dobro); Larry Franklin (fiddle); John Jarvis (piano); Glenn Worf (bass guitar); Edward Bayers (drums); Lee Ann Womack, Wes Hightower, John Wesley (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Clarke Schleicher.

Recording information: The MOney Pit; The Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Russ Harrington.

Unknown Contributor Role: B. James Lowry.

Before a single note is heard, it's obvious that SAVIN' THE HONKY TONK has deep roots in rowdy, rambunctious, old-school country; the black-and-white, candid cover photo of Mark Chesnutt and band is an homage to the cover of Waylon Jennings's 1973 Outlaw Country manifesto HONKY TONK HEROES. Like Jennings, Chesnutt is a Texan with a passion for songs about drinking, woman trouble, and dangerous behavior, and a reverence for the honky-tonk verities.

Chesnutt's cowboy hat nods most vigorously to his influences on two cover tunes, the Billy Joe Shaver-penned title tune of the aforementioned Waylon album, and a fiesty Roger Miller song, "You Can't Do Me This Way." Neverthless, the more contemporary crop of tunes that makes up the balance of SAVIN' THE HONKY TONK is very much in keeping with this framework. "The Lord Loves the Drinkin' Man" is as fine a bar-room anthem as one could hope for, and the tongue-in-cheek "Beer Bait and Ammo" displays not only a sense of humor but a true zest for the kind of "real country" that made stars of folks like Bobby Bare and Moe Bandy in the '70s. This is Chesnutt's first indie-label release, after 14 years of big-leagues success, and it's an auspicious new beginning. minimize