Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers make the kind of music
Gram Parsons probably always envisioned he would make —
music with the grit of rock and roll, melodies of pop and
the down-home innocence of country.
Sounds easy enough, but not fitting neatly into a specific
genre has its downfalls. How do you market such a band;
how do they build a fan base? Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers
have toured non-stop and built their brand one fan at a
time.
The Bear has a live feel to it. It has its imperfections
and is better for it. It also has some outstanding songs,
which propel the album through a few rather predictable
and forgettable songs.
The perfect storm on this album is “Shady Esperanto and
The Young Hearts.” It’s the kind of song that has “hit”
written all over it. It’s fun and has a spark to it. With
its catchy, playful lyrics and a bouncy drumbeat, it feels
like sunshine. However that song doesn’t really fit into
the theme of the album.
The 13 songs have a road-weary theme, reflective of a
band which has been at this for a while and may be yearning
for something more — maybe things that are left behind.
Music of “Oh Adeline” is filled with hope, but the vocal
is filled with regret. It’s a great song and that interplay
of emotions makes it more dynamic. You can hear his deep
connection to the road and his home come through on “Lonely
in Columbus.” Kellogg sings “I still felt so depressed,
because it doesn’t change the fact that I’m 800 miles away.”
It’s always hard to be away and you can really feel it in
this song. With “A (With Love)” he sings about a girl, love
and life. It’s a deeply moving story about how life isn’t
always what you think it will be, but you will always have
your family.
Overall, this is a really strong album. The band gives
us a whole picture of their influences and how they plan
to use them. Is it alt-country or punk-folk or something
else all together? Who cares what it is, because it is good
album. It’s an album filled with songs people can identify
with. Some people will buy this album and see it as too
melancholy and others will think it is too uplifting, but
most people will identify with the range of emotions presented
here. It all depends on where in your life you are as a
listener and that’s what makes this album so good.
All rights reserved.