GRAM PARSONS didn’t invent country-rock, but he gave it a style that no one before him had imagined. While his bandmates in the Byrds were interested mainly in folk-rock and psychedelia, Parson convinced them to do their first country record, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Moving on to the Flying Burrito Brothers, Parsons fashioned a new, laid-back California sound built on Buck Owens’ dusty desert honkytonk but defined by the urban sophistication of Parsons’ city life in Los Angeles. In a way, he was fusing country with indie rock before the latter had even really been invented; his songs were so ahead of their time that it wasn’t until the ’90s that rock musicians rushed to emulate him. Uncle Tupelo started Parsonsmania, leading to Wilco, Son Volt, Golden Smog and dozens of acts in Austin alone. But there’s also a NorCal school of country-rock dedicated to the post-Parsons sound—it’s less glam than its southern cousins, with more rocked-up honkytonk. That’s about where Longliner falls. Lead singer Rick Santos has the right whiskey-soaked voice, and despite the brisk, upbeat rhythms, there’s a darker-than-usual underbelly to Longliner’s songs about sinnin’ and truckin.’ Unlike many of his disciples, who seem to feel that roots music must be overly earnest, Santos and company have a handle on the ironic black humor in many of Parsons’ best songs. This show is a release party for their second CD, The Winnemucca Runner.
Saturday, 10pm
Free
