MUSIC

Turnpike Troubadours tear up road to state

— Turnpike Troubadours would seem to be a good name for a band, especially for a group of musicians in Oklahoma, a state that has its share of turnpikes - known to some of us as toll roads.

“If you drive very far in Oklahoma, you’ll eventually find yourself on a turnpike,” says R.C. Edwards, bassist and backing vocalist in the Troubadours. “We’re from all parts of Oklahoma; I’m from Tahlequah, but our base is in Okemah, better known as the home ofWoody Guthrie.”

The Turnpike Troubadours have been traveling the highways since 2007, the same year the band released a debut CD, Bossier City. Afollow-up album, Diamonds & Gasoline, came out in 2010, and the group’s latest CD, Goodbye Normal Street, came out in May. That album contains a story song, “Good Lord Lorrie,” with references to Sevier County (which borders Oklahoma) in a story of how a lovestruck young man falls for “a dark-haired daughter of southwest Arkansas,” and, since De Queen is dry, buys some alcohol in Broken Bow, Okla., with sad consequences for him.

“We all know folks along both sides of the border who provide plenty of material for our songwriting,” Edwards laughs. “We got songs that you can sort of guess some of the subject material from their names, such as ‘Gin, Smoke, Lies,’ ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,’ ‘Wrecked’ and ‘Quit While You’re Ahead.’”

The other members of the band are Evan Felker, lead singer and guitarist; Kyle Nix, fiddle and backing vocalist; Ryan Engleman, lead guitarist; and Gabe Pearson, drummer and backing vocalist.

There’s no quitting the turnpike routes for this quintet, which will be making its third central Arkansas appearance, after stops at Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack and the Rev Room, to which it’s returning. Edwards quit his day job as a pharmacist at an Indian Nation clinic to pursue his musical dreams. He finds it puzzling that his band is lumped into the “red dirt” genre of music.

“I know there are Oklahoma bands that get labeled as that, but I don’t think we’re that much into that movement. Three-fourths of the time, we’re an Oklahoma band playing in Texas. We did a song, ‘If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band),’ which isa song by Alabama, and we did it for a benefit album for the victims of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa.”

The band performs mostly originals, but mixes in cover tunes it admires, such as the bluegrass standard, “Fox on the Run,” and John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Days.”

With the band’s name, and its heavy traveling schedule, the Turnpike Troubadours have been hoping to perhaps score some sort of pass, or at least a frequent-driver card, from their state’s turnpike authority.

“We’re not averse to some sort of sponsorship,” Edwards says with a laugh.

Turnpike Troubadours

9 p.m. today, Revolution

Room, 300 President Clin

ton Ave., Little Rock

Opening act: Dry County

Admission: $12

(501) 823-0090 or revroom.

com

Weekend, Pages 38 on 02/14/2013

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