Two Tons of Steel
King of a One Horse Town
Big Bellied Records

by William Michael Smith

A few Thursdays back I was lucky enough to be squeezed inside the two-steppin'-est beer drinkin' music establishment in Houston, Blanco's Bar and Grill, for the Two Tons of Steel show. Luckily I came early because by 9:30 a line of couples stretched out to the parking lot and it wasn't moving. Inside there wasn't room for another couple on a dance floor where folks were packed like early bird Christmas bargain hunters outside Neiman Marcus on Dollar Day waiting for the doors to be unlocked. The weather was mild outside, but inside the club it was HOT. Sweltering.

Kevin Geil, leader, songwriter, singer and rhythm guitarist for Two Tons of Steel, wiped sweat from his brow and hollered, "It sure is crowded in here!" before the band roared off into another of their rockabilly tail shakers. Geil and his compadres were tic-tac tight and the sound was right. It was one of those nights Houston club goers live for.

Shortly afterwards, I received a nice album of western-swinging, honky-tonk-dancing music from some folks in the Northeast United States. I listened to the album and thought 'this is good stuff, these kids really have their chops down, they know the drill, they've put in their time studying how this thing is done.' I was tapping my toe, nodding my head, occasionally slapping my legs keeping time with the drummer. When the album finished, I stuck it back in the jewel case and looked for another CD. I passed on a few possibilities before I saw the copy of Two Tons of Steel's King of a One Horse Town Geil had handed me that hot night at Blanco's. To make a long story short, within the space of a few songs I realized those well-meaning kids from the Northeast, nice and sincere and dedicated as they were, had a hell of a ways to go before they tried to hang with a road-hardened Texas honky tonk band like Two Tons of Steel. The difference between the two bands was as wide as the space between Beaumont and El Paso, as wide as the gap between New Braunfels and New York City.

King of a One Horse Town marks another slight change of pace (or evolution) for Two Tons of Steel. When they first emerged in our neck of the woods from their stronghold at Gruene Hall in the San Antonio area about 6 years back, there was more of a revved-up, rockabilly, hubba-hubba feel to the band. Geil and his band -- producer Ric Ramirez (Los Super Seven) on bass, Steve Harwell on drums and Dennis Fallon on guitar -- have patiently and incrementally changed their repertoire toward Texas twanging honky tonk shuffles but have managed along the way to keep the music lively and danceable by holding on to the core tic-tac rhythm guitar and stand up bass sound that was always there. Unless you were paying close attention, you hardly notice the gradual change the band has undergone. Whether you've been paying attention or not, it doesn't take much exposure to Two Tons of Steel, either live or recorded, before the realization will grab you that these guys have been around, that they've paid some serious dues in the honky tonks, and that they are as good a band as there is on the Texas honky tonk circuit these days.

King of a One Horse Town is a hard album not to like. Immensely. From the opening bars, the album is drenched in Fallon's twangy, surf-influenced guitar (this is Texas, by God, and we can have surf-influenced country guitar if we want it!) that indicates he has more than a passing familiarity with the original Texas countrybilly legend, Johnny Horton. The Two Tons' sound has a distinctly retro quality and a listener is immediately struck that there is nothing like this on radio -- but there should be. Adding to the retro quality is Geil's ability to write in a vein that pays homage to and invites comparisons with the likes of Texas legends like Horton or Marty Robbins ("Sweet Elena"). He also ventures into the late-night jazz territory of Western swing on the quiet and tasty "Sad Lovers Song."

Geil's songwriting continues to mature and to expand. I read one review that said the songs on King of a One Horse Town were "solid but not spectacular" and I had to laugh. Geil isn't pretending to write Sgt. Pepper's or Tommy. Geil's songs are rock solid examples of the kinds of songs that work in the venues where Texans congregate to dance and drink. Like an accomplished architect, Geil understands the form and the function and he builds solid, substantial honky tonk songs that you can sing the words to after only a few hearings. "Spectacular" has got nothing to do with it. Find me a better example of what Texas dance hall denizens are looking for than Geil's "Does Heaven Know?"

Does heaven know that you're down here, darlin'
And that I'll be lovin' you like the devil tonight

No, you don't need Cliff Notes to understand Geil's songs, but who ever danced to Cliff Notes? Or memorized them? Dancers will treasure shuffling, mid-tempo cuts like "Heartache," and the pulsating, drum-heavy "Love Is Here to Stay," which is how Buddy Holly would have sounded if he'd gone down the country music route after an apprenticeship with Bo Diddley.

There's no shame in a Texas honky tonk dance band playing some choice covers and Two Tons of Steel's countriefied cover of the classic "Since I Met You Baby" is a mid-tempo boot-scooter with the perfect Texas musical seasonings. And their treatment of The Ramone's "I Wanna Be Sedated" is pure Texas picking and Hee Haw hijinx in smooth, smart package.

Don't think that with all their bent toward honky tonk that Two Tons of Steel has forgotten to dance with the partner that "brung 'em." On "One More Time," Fallon turns it loose on a rocking dance floor filler while the closing track, "Crazy Little Rocking Red Headed Girl," is a rockabilly rug cutter's delight.

King of a One Horse Town, the fifth Two Tons of Steel album (if you count their release as The Dead Crickets), is a fine example of what makes the Texas honky tonk scene tick today. Part retro, part rockabilly, part Western swing, part Latin tinged, part rocker, part ballad, Two Tons of Steel is a mishmash combination of sound that equals Texas dancehall chic. You don't intellectualize about stuff like this. You dig it.

*Geil and his cohorts have become regular sellout attractions at both Blanco's and the Continental Club. Get King of a One Horse Town or the brand spanking new live record at www.twotons.com and let your ears and feet find out what folks in Texas dancehalls already know.



Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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