The Great Divide was one of the first young neo-outlaw country music acts to achieve something beyond local and regional fame. While most acts struggled to get records out and scrounged for paying gigs, The Great Divide parlayed the early success of its Oklahoma Red Dirt sound into a major label record deal with one of the industry giants when Atlantic Records signed the band in 1998 without ever having seen them play live. That deal was based entirely on the success of Divide's second independent release, 1998's Break In The Storm. Together less than two years, the Divide had major label backing and a nationwide tour schedule that only a few performers in their genre could match.

But like so many bands, Divide got caught in the industry consolidation trend that seemed to virtually paralyze the major labels and, after the release of Revolutions in 1999, Divide ended their relationship with Atlantic, feeling the label wasn't supporting and pushing the band enough. While such a move might easily have backfired, Divide retreated back to Oklahoma, pooled resources, rented the old Will Rogers Theater in Oklahoma City, filled it with pawn shop recording equipment and recorded Afterglow. And like many other recent examples of artists paying their own way on their recordings to maintain full artistic control, then shopping the records to prospective labels, Afterglow is a textbook case of the good that comes when the artists are in control of their product. Nashville's Broken Bow Records picked up the distribution rights for Afterglow and Divide hit the road to support it.

Divide has often been described as being on the rocking end of country music, but on Afterglow they have stuck fairly closely to country forms, although none of the music will be mistaken for mainstream radio country music. In fact, there is a thoughtful, literate Steve Earle directness about much of the material here. The album features some very accomplished steel guitar by Rusty Danmyer and Scott Coney adds some straight-up country fiddling that works quite well with the Divide sound.

Lead guitarist/vocalist Mike McClure has written all of the songs on Afterglow except the hidden track, "Livin' Like Thanksgivin'," which he co-wrote with Scott Copeland and Divide bassist, Kelley Green. Like many songwriters in the genre, McClure pulls his songs from his life, which means lots of lines about being on the road, about the stresses and strains of a traveling life, of living life in bars, of living life in the fishbowl under public scrutiny, and of course of the things missed or neglected due to being on the road. McClure's writing continues to mature and reach for added depth. The songs on Afterglow are his most solid collection yet and his singing fits the material well.

"Days Go" comes straight off the pavement with no gloss or fancy varnish and let's the listener know band life isn't always the glamorous star trip that fans imagine.

Things get pushed up in your face
To teach you how to deal
Sometimes you've got to get way down
But you get to what's real

But "Days Go" is just a warmup for "Out of Here Tonight," which really digs down deep into the boredom and anomie of small town life. McClure knows where that nerve is that pushes young people to leave the little rural towns behind. McClure's voice has just enough of a tired, raggedy angst element to really make these songs convincing. There is some very choice fiddling and steel guitar on this melancholy track.

I've been sitting here watching smoke circle
Around empty bottles of beer
Lately all we've been talking about
Is getting out of here

Tonight there's a full moon shining down
That I'm so tired of watching from this one horse town
We can talk about it all later in the morning light
Let's get out of here tonight

Divde shows their diversity and depth on "Wildflower" by doing something I've never heard another band do: they do the song twice on the track. The first version is a tender acoustic love song rendering on the folk side of country. There is delicate fiddling and dobro, and McClure's vocal is in the thoughful, reflective sensitive vein. The cut is a real stunner from a band usually considered to be one of the genre's most rocking bands. Only slightly countrified, this cut would fit right in middle of those sensitive, faux intellectual stations that think Nancy Griffith and Indigo Girls are the musical cutting edge.

But the Divde throws us a curve when two seconds after the first version ends they cover the song with a big beat, hard rocking electric version that is probably the best cut on the record (along with "Hang On Cowboy"). The playing is hard and tight, but the harmony vocals make the track, as the boys stretch their vocal chops into a new place and really lean into their work. There is a rocking, edgy, young Bruce Springsteen quality to the second version, with drummer J.J. Lester and bassman Kelley Green showing their musicles. It is obvious the Great Divide could make an excellent full-blown rock record if they ever got the inclination (and I say if this is indication of what they would do, "Bring it on!").

I know someday someone will pick you up off the ground
And place you in his vase for all the world to see
But I will always remember greener pastures
When you were waving in the wind right next to me

Divide gets a little surly on "Ain't About To Fall," and they add to the chip-on-our-shoulders vibe with some slide guitar fills. This is a song definitely inspired by the fishbowl nature of the music business.

The way you sink your teeth in me
Every time I turn around
You like to talk behind my back
Yeah, you love to run me down
But if you can't say it to my face
Then you ain't worth a damn at all
I may wobble on my high wire
But I ain't about to fall

"Hang On Cowboy," a romping rodeo anthem, has an uptempo Charlie Robison feel and is lyrically the strongest song on the album.

No one will save you when you're down
Except the rodeo clowns
And your mama but she ain't nowhere around
You might look for a fallen angel
But she ain't nowhere to be found
'Til you hang on cowboy and don't hit the ground

"The Flood" is a longer piece that sees The Great Divide let it out a bit. It is a great track and highly reminiscent of Steve Earle in his Exit 0 period. But don't hit the Eject Button when "The Flood" is finished because the hidden track, "Livin' Like Thanksgivin'" is a blast. The Great Divide definitely comes from that great Oklahoma Red Dirt Music tradition and on "Livin' Like Thanksgivin'" they unexpectedly start to channel one of the original Red Dirt rockers, J.J. Cale. The zany lyrics sound like Cale in the days when he wrote some of the great novelty songs coming out of the Capitol Records studios in L.A., like "Alley Oop." The track even features some of Cale's patented chunka-chunka rhythms and some red-hot dobro picking. And McClure shows he can chicken-pick the hot licks with the best on the solo. The lyrics may not make a lot of sense, but they aren't supposed to.

I'm just livin' like Thanksgivin', don't you come messin' with my dressin'
We get it on like Donkey Kong, keep it cool like Smith and Wesson

I'm just chillin' like Bob Dylan, hangin' loose like an old mongoose
You know I got it goin' on, so get it on, turn it loose

The Great Divide has a huge following for a Red Dirt neo-outlaw band and Afterglow proves that is no fluke. Producer/engineer Danny Miller has gotten an excellent sound out of the pawnshop equipment and the vibrations inside the old Will Rogers Theater. Divide's songs are straight-ahead and down to earth, their playing equals anyone's, and they put the whole thing together with a lot of heart and the right attitude. Don't worry about the major label deals - we'll be hearing lots more from these young Oklahomans.

* The Great Divide will be appearing with Mark David Manders and the Nuevo Tejas Band and Heath Tolleson and the Orange County Band August 11 across the border in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. Afterglow can be purchased at www.thegreatdivide.com or at www.brokenbowrecords.com



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

 
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