Sweet tea. Kudzu wrapped around anything that doesn’t move. Wearing a short sleeve shirt with a tie to church. While you can experience those things many places (less so the kudzu), growing up with their ubiquity is part of a cultural perspective that lends definition to the idea of being a southerner. In a similar vein, RJ Chesney set out to explore a collection of personalities that, individually, aren’t unique. When set to a southern rock and country soundtrack, though, the aggregate picture is one that’s unlikely to get painted north of the Mason-Dixon line. Born and raised in Macon, Georgia, and Biloxi, Mississippi, Chesney bundles it all together for his newest album, A Southern Man.
The title track sets the tone with a greasy, Tony Joe White-style ballad that delves into all sorts of perspectives instilled from a young age. When Chesney notes he “loves the heart of Jimmy Carter and the soul of Johnny Cash” it frames the values brilliantly. Holy Roller is a funky, retro-sounding number with a church choir treatment of the background vocals and plenty of twangy guitar. Unforgiving Heart is an outlaw country ballad with nice bits of pedal steel and organ in a concern about “how long can that levee hold back all that pain.” The CD closer is a cover of the Jesse Winchester-penned Biloxi, with its sepia colored look on a day at the coast.
Based on a tragic event that could happen almost anywhere, Afraid of the Ball is a country shuffle about how a single moment can dictate a lifetime of mental pain. Also sadly not unique to any geographic area of the country is The Devil Is Beating His Wife. The spoken delivery comes across as a simply told tale of the toll from an abusive father. Although the outward sound is a sad folk ballad, listen closely to My Heart Is My Home and it’s an uplifting number about having the freedom to “be everything you are.”
Throughout the entire record RJ Chesney’s weathered tenor vocals lend an authenticity that you’ll almost never hear from mainstream country music. Perhaps that’s because pop country is playing to everyone’s desire to be happy. Or maybe it’s just because sorrow doesn’t generally fill the dance floor. Either way, A Southern Man is filled with flawed characters that are probably a lot closer to ones you actually know, and that makes this a lot more interesting listen than some algorithm-driven playlist proclaiming its southern style.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.