- Danny Barnes and Thee Old Codgers
-- Chris Herrington
When Danny Barnes and the Bad Livers played Barristers several years back, an eclectic audience of punks, hipsters, and genuine tobacco-spittin' rednecks witnessed something rare and fine: the total union of virtuosity and reckless abandon, the fusion of raw power and studied refinement. The Livers came into being in the early '90s when a terrible epidemic was spreading like a brushfire across the musical landscape. Every other band down the pike sang with twang, tossed a Don Rich lick or two over a rumbling Rolling Stones riff, and called themselves alt-country. The Bad Livers made real rocket-powered bluegrass and hard-corn country that was mean and unapologetic. It was aggressive, fully progressive, completely traditional, and a much-needed antidote to so much middle-of-the-road Americana. Sadly, the Bad Livers are no more, but diehard fans will still want to see their banjo-plucking badass, Danny Barnes, when he rolls through town this week with his new group, Thee Old Codgers. Alas, as the name implies, the Old Codgers' sound is more "mature." Barnes' lyrics with the new band sometimes head into questionable territory, but the musicianship is superb. Barnes' banjo and Keith Lowe's tidy bass provide an excellent foundation for some truly inspired fiddle-playing by Jon Parry. There's not a tune on Thee Old Codgers' album Things I Done Wrong that can really scratch a bad Bad Livers itch, but that's not really a fair thing to say since few things can. Thee Old Codgers are playing at Young Avenue Deli on Thursday, December 6th, with The Bluff City Backsliders. -- Chris Davis
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