Five Moons by The Beat Daddys

Or why not recast it as a jazz tune for some torch singer?

The Beat Daddys are a blues band, have no doubt: The next song after "Bad Streak" is "Big Thighs," a barrelhouse tribute to exactly what you think. These are blues songs, but "Bad Streak" and several other tunes on "5 Moons" aren't just good within the confines of the genre.

"Lonely Road," another standout, could be the flip side of "Bad Streak." Mandolin and acoustic guitar give its opening a bluegrass tinge, but from there it turns to Southern rock as Grisham again ponders the difficulty of finding true love. "Why do the bad ones beg me to stay?" he asks, turning the names of Gulf Coast states into a refrain.

"She Goes Down," another memorable track, describes a troubled woman -- but rather than a standard-issue wild child, she's based on a street person Grisham once knew, back in the days when he ran a club in Indiana.

"She wouldn't talk, she'd run away from you," he said, even if you were trying to help. From this kernel comes a song that treats its subject with sympathy rather than derision.

"5 Moons" also has ample charms for those more into the playing than the philosophy. Out of 12 songs, only a couple clock in at under four minutes.

Five are more than five minutes long, translating into plenty of extended solos from lead guitarist Britt Meacham. Meacham is a more tasteful guitarist than a younger generation of Steve Ray Vaughnnabes, but even so the overall sound of this album is a long way from sparse.

Those familiar with the Beat Daddys will not be surprised by a certain theme in the liner notes to "5 Moons," a commentary on the hardships of maintaining a career on the road, and gratitude for the fans who make it possible. "The road is a circus," goes the lament, "and the clowns in this business are making it difficult."

Yet there's also a thread of perseverance worthy of any gang of bluesmen. There's a photo of Grisham's FEMA trailer in the album cover, and under it a paragraph that includes the words "we are survivors."

"5 Moons," in some ways, marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Beat Daddys. Grisham has recently relocated to Nashville, where he hopes to find a market for his songs -- and a bass player whose schedule matches the Beat Daddys' touring needs.

Another task is to return that trailer, if he can just get a straight answer from FEMA about how to do so.

Who knows? If getting a FEMA trailer doesn't provide inspiration for a blues song, maybe the bureaucratic hassles of getting out of one will.

(Lawerence Specker-entertainment -Mobile Press-Registar)

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