Thompson Brothers offer disc of a different beast

Brian Wahlert, January 1998

First, the Thompson Brothers put out their debut EP, "Cows on Main Street."

And in late January, "Blame It On the Dog" becomes the trio's first full-length CD.

Why the fascination with animals, demonstrated by the two album titles?

łPeople are reading into it too much and thinking that we have a little bit too much fondness for farm animals,˛ lead singer Andy Thompson says with a laugh, łbut I donąt think thatąs right."

"We named the first one 'Cows on Main Streetą because weąre from Massachusetts, and everyone thinks weąre from a big city. There were actually cows on Main Street where we grew up, and they used to get out of the fence and block traffic and stuff and make you late for school. Just about the only thing you would get in the police report every Sunday, besides maybe a kitten caught in a tree, was cows on Main Street. It was just a big joke, you know.

łAnd we named the other one 'Blame It on the Dogą because, first of all, Nipper, being the RCA dog, has a lot to do with it. And we had dogs in the studio the whole recording process. You can actually hear them barking on the last song."

Since łCows on Main Street,˛came out in 1996, the wait has been on for the bandąs full-length debut.

After a change in producers and delays due to the bandąs hectic touring schedule, the album is out Jan. 27.

A great mix of country lyrics, beautiful harmonies and energetic, jangly country-rock, itąs exactly the kind of fresh, different record fans love and radio hates. An hour before the band was to go onstage at a Florida club, Thompson talks about the new album, The Beatles and Switzerland.

The band was especially excited to have some of their musical heroes work on the new album. łWe got Bill Lloyd (of Foster & Lloyd) to produce the record...And we had Rusty Young from Poco play a little steel on a couple of the songs and...had Steve Earle sing a verse on one of the songs with us, so it was cool.˛

The EP was produced by Steve Fishell, who used to play with Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band. Fishell ended up taking a job at Rising Tide, an MCA company.

"Itąs a conflict of interests," Thompson says, adding, "So, we had to go searching for a new producer...We didnąt want to do what was happening at the time for country. We wanted to go and try to do something different. So, we just took a long time trying to come up with some people that would be interested, but that could bring something a little different to the picture. Somebody that we respected musically.˛

The natural choice, then, was Lloyd, who even gave the band co-producer credit.

łWe do sound a lot different from whatąs out there on country anyway,˛ Thompson says.

łI think we have a little bit of a unique sound, and we wrote most of the songs on the record that it was cool with them to say, 'You can blame it on these guys, whatever comes outą,˛ Thompson says with a laugh.

The Earle duet was an especially big thrill. łWe did a Willie Nelson tune called 'Pick Up the Tempoą and had Steve sing with us. I mean, we just had such a fun day recording that day ­ every time we hear it, we think of that.˛

And how does the band hope to top the guest list on this album? łI think any of the remaining Beatles would be the thrill of a lifetime,˛ Thompson says, sounding at least half-serious. łIąd love to see if we could get Paul McCartney. I know thatąs dreaming big, but I just grew up listening to The Beatles so much.˛

As Thompson recites the bandąs other musical influences ­ Earle, The Beatles, Waylon & Willie, Duane Eddy, Foster & Lloyd, Buddy Holly ­ itąs easy to imagine the band playing rock music today, rather than country.

Thompson addresses this issue by recalling commercial radio in the mid-Eighties, around the time Andy and Matt Thompson moved to Norwell, Mass., and bass player Mike Whitty joined the band for its first gig, a junior-high talent show.

There was ła little teeny radio station that we could barely pick up. It was a country station and we just one day had it on, and they played Dwight Yoakam, Foster & Lloyd, Steve Earle, and Emmylou Harris right in a row. And we said, 'Man, that stuff is cool. We gotta get some of this stuff.ąŠ At the time, I think Poison was out on rock, and Iąm trying to think ­ Motley Crue was pretty big. It just kind of wasnąt really our bag at the time.˛

Thompson sounds excited when he talks about country radio of 10 years ago, but the joy fades when he discusses country radio of today.

łItąs not the same thing. It got so popular and commercialized that I just kind of hope we can hang on there because weąre not really at all like whatąs going on right now.˛

Musically, the band seems to fall into the gap between the Americana and New Country radio formats. Theyąre a little too alternative for New Country, but a little more commercial and polished than most Americana music.

And in terms of promotion, łweąre doing both right now. Weąre giving a shot at the country radio...Our first single (łDrive Me Crazy˛) just came out, and we hit, I think, 46 with that, so we charted. It was tough...The EP...actually got to, I think, 14 on the Americana chart.˛

Like many of todayąs less mainstream country artists, the Thompson Brothers found a more open-minded audience in Europe when they traveled to Switzerland for the Swiss Alps Country Music Festival two summers ago.

łThey seem to be into a much broader kind of music. I think Emmylou Harris is god over there. They love the Desert Rose Band, and Foster & Lloyd actually played that festival this year as the headliner. So, I think theyąre not so into whatąs hot and happening right now. They just find the best stuff and just always listen to it. I guess the good stuff just never dies over there. And Steve Earle ­ he does some great European tours, I hear. And I guess they love Trisha Yearwood and Lee Roy Parnell and people like that, too. It seems like a lot of different stuff goes over really well over there.˛

So whatąs on tap for the future of the Thompson Brothers?

For starters, another album. RCA head Joe Galante is łinto kind of working on peopleąs careers a little bit instead of just going for the big cheesy single,˛ so the band has a two-album record deal.

Aside from that, itąs gigs, gigs and more gigs. łNo oneąs ever sure what to do with us, but weąve got a lot of clubs on the books. We also have a few big dates with Alabama, which weąre really looking forward to.˛

The Thompson Brothers are a rarity in country music today: a talented young band on a major label with a different sound. If radio gives their new single, łBack on the Farm,˛ a chance, then they could be the band opening the door for other less mainstream country bands.

Then, maybe country radio would return to the way it was in the mid-Eighties when the Thompson Brothers fell in love with country music in the first place.



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