Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Truckstop Coffee serves up a breed of alt.country / southern rock with songs about whiskey, women, heartache, and interstate highways. Their sound is probably best compared to fellow whiskey, women and heartache stalwarts Lucero or The Drive-by Truckers. Hailing from Lake Worth, FL, Truckstop Coffee is Pete Stein, Caleb James, Nick Orow and Venny Portalatin.

In December of 2006 they released thier debut LP (a 5 song EP was released in 2004), One Damn Thing to Redeem. Partially recorded in South Florida and part in Knoxville, Tennessee. The cd opens up with a barn burner and possibly the best track on the cd, Way Down South, which is followed by Pretty Lil’ Smile, a fantastic song that sounds like it could turn up on the next Lucero disc. The cd then downshifts and cranks up the pedal steel for Madison County a fond recollection of someone’s hometown. There are stories of lost farms, lost women, and memories made sweeter with whiskey. The cd closes with a track about something I am probably way too familiar with, Whiskey Shivers, a song about trying to get out of a town you’ve become to comfortable in. Whiskey Shivers also contains my favorite lines on the entire album:

“Whiskey bottle never got anybody very far / But it’s hard to leave town when you can walk to the bar / and take your old familiar place / You’re an old familiar face”.

Ain’t that the truth.

Although, I worry that the “whiskey soaked heartbroken miles on a midnight highway” sound might be so dominated that they may have a hard time getting noticed outside of the local market, but with over 100 shows under their belt, a gig as openers for Brooks and Dunn, and having earned the title “Best Country Band — 2005” by Florida’s Citylink Magazine would suggest otherwise.

Truckstop Coffee - Way Down South
Truckstop Coffee - Pretty Lil Smile
Truckstop Coffee - A Little Too Close

Truckstop Coffee’s Official Site
Truckstop Coffee on myspace
Buy One Damn Thing To Redeem

WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT BY A FAT GUY IN HIS UNDERWEAR AND CROSS POSTED FROM NINEBULLETS.NET