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Finally! Robbie Jay Band doesn't mess with success on new album
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
After seeing the Robbie Jay Band for the first time, some people say “I heard that you played rock, but that was country.”
Others say “I heard that you played country, but that was rock.”
How does guitarist- vocalist-namesake Robbie Jay MacFarland describe his act’s sound? “We’re a garage band playing country music,” he said.
And that pretty much sums up the group with the simple music that’s hard to categorize.
Call it what you will, the Robbie Jay Band has issued another helping of it. “Finally,” the band’s sophomore disc, will be showcased at a record-release street party Saturday at the Wonderbar in Girard.
At its core, RJB is a bar band with a stripped-down sound propelled by electric guitars and MacFarland sing-talking his plain-spoken lyrics with gravelly clarity and a little twang.
It’s a nothing-fancy combination that many like on first listen.
That’s why the new album doesn’t stray from the signature sound introduced on the band’s self-titled 2010 debut disc.
“We did that on purpose,” said MacFarland. “We tried to not change direction. It’s back on track if anything, stripped down to be more rootsy.”
The band — which also includes guitarist Jay Hinrichs, bassist Ryan Rexroad and drummer Dan Dominic — doesn’t even bother with keyboards this time out.
“We wanted to sound like we do live,” said MacFarland. “After a show, you could take home what you just heard us do.”
What about that title?
“It’s a nod to our local fans,” said MacFarland. “We have fans everywhere, but the local ones have been patiently, or impatiently, waiting for the new CD. It took longer than we thought, six months longer.”
Some of the new songs will be familiar to fans, because RJB has been playing them at shows for some time. But not all of them.
“We kept about half of the songs [on ‘Finally’] in our back pocket,” said MacFarland, so that they will be fresh for the fans.
Next up for the band will be a fall tour that could include a return to Texas and Oklahoma, where — not surprisingly — the band has started to cultivate a fanbase.
“We did Texas and Oklahomas a year ago and we’re still fielding calls to return,” said MacFarland.
RJB also hopes to gain a foothold on some larger stages by opening for national acts. In the past year, the band has opened for Will Hoge at Musica in Akron, and also with former members of Cross-Canadian Ragweed.
RJB was scheduled to open for country-punk beacons Lucero in Pittsburgh in June. But a burst appendix put MacFarland in the hospital for 10 days — which also partially explains the delay in releasing “Finally.”