The Piners

The Piners stay on the track with "blue country" (Mar 1999)

There's country, traditional country, hot new country, alternative country, pop country and if Haak Kallweit has his way, there will also be "blue country." At least that's what the songwriter for the Maine trio, The Piners, is pushing these days based on the band's debut album. Kallweit, hitting 30 in April, says The Piners' music has a "kind of chugging sound, an early rock and roll backbeat sound. Buck Owens, Chubby Checker - everybody had that kind of sound. The 'blue' is basically from the fact that we have the harmony singing. We always have a thread to some sort of blues. There is no straight blues. It kind of has a blue feel."  ...