Album Notes

Well, it’s about damn time! Just when you’d given up all hope for the condition of the ol’ honky-tonk music, Meat Raffle Road delivers up their debut record Eaten By Crows, twelve songs whose roots are deep and long enough to strangle the pompous, bloated imposter that is contemporary Nashville. Twelve songs whose big, dusty boots are itchin’ to kick the stinking, swollen corpse of modern commercial country into the gaping grave that this Midwestern outlaw duo has freshly dug. Mind you, these guys aren’t your run-of-the-barn shitkickers, no sirree! Don’t believe it? Just listen to the chilling storm warning that is “Thunder God”. Brutal, ain’t it, with all those swirling guitars and “Whiskey” Dick’s baleful, ill-bodin’ voice sounding the alarm? And if that didn’t scare you off, give a listen to their hair-raisin’ retelling of the legend of the “Hodag”, a raw, Northwoods hillbilly stomp that won’t fail to keep the kids up at night. And while you’re at it, you won’t want to miss the room spinning crowd pleaser “Shitfaced”, a yarn of inebriation that’s all true – MRR has the affidavits to prove it. You want politics? “Pacifist Jew” will do the trick. It’s got a chorus you’ll be hummin’ all the way to the meetin’ hall. But you’ll probably have to make up your own story for “Country Krankenpfleger”. It’s Black Forest Americana that will have Sid Griffin scramblin’ for his translation software. So here it is. Three years in the makin’. All the tasty instrumentation you would expect from Mr. Bryan Knisley and that wild-eyed prairie poetry from Mr. Lawrence. They are Meat Raffle Road and they would be mighty obliged if you would join them for a stroll in their neck of the woods. by Kevin Lian-Anderson


In a search looking for new interesting artist and /or music I always expect to bump into something that makes me say: "what is this?" That's something I can say of "Whiskey" Dick Lawrence and Bryan Knisley from MPLS also known as "Meat Raffle Road"
Dick and Bryan worked for 3 years on their debut "Eaten by Crows"
Crows are really circling around their heads on the cd cover.
Whiskey Dick is, besides the singer, also responsible for all 12 songs on this debut record. His buddy Bryan takes care of all the instruments. Starting with "Thunder God" where the sound of thunder is almost overpowering the rest of the music they create a dark Southern Rock sound, but after that it is cheerful honky tonk and outlaw tunes flying around the ears. Crowd pleaser "Shit Faced" is one of those songs that you would like to sing along with while holding a beer in your
hands during a Meat Raffle Road show. "Eaten by Crows" is filled with songs like this. "Asshole against asshole"( more punk outlaw genre) "You Bring Me Pain"( honky tonk), and sung half in German "Country krankenpfleger": Listen to it once and you can sing along. While listening to the cd I started seeing images of the Blues Brothers playing in a country bar while the drunken audience is throwing empty beer bottles against a fence. That's how I imagine a Meat Raffle Road
show. How serious I should take the gentleman Dick and Bryan, I don't know, but fun for a gezellig (drinking) evening they are for sure. A comparison with Husker Du is something that went through my head while listening.

Johan Schoenmakers
altcountryforum.nl

Translation by Isabelle Harder