Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers
What do you get when you mix Foghat, Ziggy Marley, and a Mariachi band? What sounds like a sure way to get your DJ beat up is just another day on the bandstand for Tempe, Arizona’s Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, which will have spent nearly 20 years mashing genres by the time they arrive at the Music Box on September 14. Operating under the theory that a honky-tonk needs more than just honkies to rattle the roof, the group features Clyne partnering once again with drummer Paul Naffah, from their former band the Refreshments (probably best known for the King of the Hill TV theme song, though you’d likely recognize their radio staple “Bandidos” if I hummed a few bars on the kazoo).
Their newest full-length Native Heart debuted at number 15 on the iTunes Albums chart and number 4 on iTunes Alternative, both good digits in a world increasingly qualified by clicks and likes. Two singles can be sampled free online: “Flowerin’” mocks the hippie lifestyle and worldview with intentionally insipid lyrics like “the shadows keep on cowering and the flowers keep on flowering,” while “Hello Tiger” is a straight-up roadhouse rocker suitable for everything from cutting in on someone else’s old lady on the dancefloor to punching out a dude in the bathroom who looks like (and may well have been) one of those dudes from Foghat.