EASE DOWN THE ROAD

“As far as sellin’ out goes / I ain’t looking for a deal,” sings Bob Wayne on “Road Bound,” a song about being a “low down, wound-up road-bound man,” living here and there with his band, sleeping where their heads fall, all so they can keep playing shows, living fast and finding inspiration.

Wayne & the Outlaw Carnies make getaway music. That’s a fact. They spit fire, run a heathen carnival and bleed whisky, too – or so we’ve heard.

Fiery acoustic guitars, speedy banjos, even faster fiddles and a chugging rhythm section back frontman Wayne as he yelps his way through songs about hard-wrought Southern life. Blood and booze and country blues are the lightest elements driving this Merle Haggard-spirited outfit; the rest – and by that we mean the “hard stuff” – is in the songs. Drenched. Dripping. Spitting.

Dirty? Sometimes. Mouthy? Always. Angry? Not quite. Wayne’s having too much fun for that. Contextually speaking, Wayne and his Carnies are to country music what N.W.A. were to hip-hop: authentic, creative artists with a fighting spirit and a message.

A member of Hank III’s band and a close friend to that very similar-minded artist, Wayne rather effortlessly keeps a low profile. You won’t be able to get the man on the phone, and you won’t find extensive bio information or interviews with pretty pictures planted around the Internet. Look on his MySpace page and you’ll get three things: 1) Visuals – Wayne is covered in tattoos, often has a shotgun nearby and always looks ready for anything; 2) Tour info – Wayne and his lengthy list of revolving-door Carnies play a show almost every night of the year; and 3) Raucous country songs soaked in punk’s gritty, honest aesthetic.

No further explanation is really needed outside the nursery rhyme Wayne himself offers on his MySpace page: “After a long hard run down the roads across this land / Bob Wayne gathered up some outlaws and they formed themselves a band / Now every day is different / Every player, every show / Will you see a bearded lady / Unless you go you’ll never know / So come one, yeah come all / When this ho down comes around / Who know’s, you could be an outlaw too / Lettin out that carnie sound.” Sounds about right.

For more info on Bob Wayne & the Outlaw Carnies, head over to … well, actually, forget about the web. If you really want to know more about Bob Wayne (and perhaps pick up a copy of his album), head over to Fort Wayne’s Brass Rail on Sunday, June 29.