Many a punk rocker have found themselves diving into the country pool over the years. From Jello Biafra’s collaboration with Mojo Nixon and the Toad Lickers in ‘94 to Mike Ness’ solo outlaw country material in ‘99, plenty of legends in the scene have traded their docs for cowboy boots, to varying degrees of success. It’s easy to fall into the realm of parody when playing in this particular sandbox, if it’s not approached with an understanding and/or respect for the art form. Thankfully, Vinnie Stigma appears to truly revere country western music and it’s place in American music history. It seems like Stigma and his cohorts came to his latest project, The Outlaw Vinnie Stigma, with a desire to pay homage to the greats that came before, and add to the canon in an honest show of admiration, and I personally am here for for it!
The Outlaw primarily consists of a collection of cover songs that span several decades of influences, as well as a handful of originals from Stigma and his collaborator Chip Hanna (One Man Army/US Bombs). Each selection is handled with care and performed with skill and a style all their own. The musical contributions of an all star team including Hanna, Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham (Social Distortion/Cadillac Tramps), Roy Valencia (Agnostic Front/Roger Miret & the Disasters), Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites) and many other talents bring polish and shine to an already stellar piece of work.
Vinnie manages to move through different styles and eras with ease. The varied track list includes classics by Steve Earle (“Devil’s Right Hand”), Jimmy Driftwood (“Black Jack’s Bar”), and the traditional “Rose of Alabamy”, as well as some slightly off the wall choices like Rancid’s “Already Dead” and doo wop classic “Little Star”, all mingled with excellent Stigma and Hanna originals. You might not expect it from a legend of hardcore, but Stigma’s voice was custom built for honky tonk, and he wears the style as naturally as a tailored Nudie suit.
Whether you are an Americana aficionado, or a country curious punker, The Outlaw Vinnie Stigma is the perfect soundtrack to your next summer barbecue, or rowdy jukebox joust at the local dive bar. Speaking of barbecue, there’s even a hot sauce available from Seeking Heat in collaboration with Hardcore Hot Sauce to go with the record! You can grab yourself a copy now from Generation Records in conjunction with Casa Gogol Records, and I highly recommend that you do!
