I’ve told the story of how my old TexasRadio1 show got its name, and how this site took that name and how it all goes back to a little band called Macon Greyson and a little song called “Fine Line.”

If you are new, or if you even give a flyin’ eff, you can read the rehash here.

“Fine Line” by Macon Greyson

Now go getcherown damn copy.

Macon Greyson has always and will always reside at the top of my all time favorite bands. Plus, I’ve got a huge crush on songster/singer Buddy Huffman, always have, always will. So I was tickled-pink when Kelly aka “The Knob” sent me a link to this divine little blurb in Paste Magazine…

Representing the Son Volt side of the schism we have Dallas’s Macon Greyson, and lead singer/songwriter Buddy Huffman, who has Jay Farrar’s craggy, soulful tenor down to a sadsack science. There are times when it’s impossible to tell them apart. Like the early Son Volt albums, Macon Greyson’s songs alternate between blistering roots rockers and country-inflected ballads. The ballads are just fine, and showcase Huffman’s social conscience and better-than-average lyrical gifts. But this band really shines on the rockers, where they take the no-frills ethos of the best bar bands and kick it right into the back alley. The bluesy Stones swagger of “Black Light” may offer the best Keith Richards guitar lick since “Brown Sugar,” and the sturdy power chords of the title track and “Minnesota Weather Map” will have the air guitarists pumping their fists. It’s straightforward rock ‘n roll for the millionth time, and, as is the case with all such miracles, it sounds utterly fresh and vital. (Out October 9th on Fat Caddy Records)…read it all.

I prolly shouldn’toutta admit this, but one time I was riding shotgun in the girl-child’s car and she popped in a mixed CD that she had made and a Son Volt song came on and I said, “wow, this band sounds just like Macon Greyson.” Of course I was scolded and corrected and reminded of my lameness. Hey look man, that was back in the days that I longed for a Backstreet Boys reunion.

Not to be redundant, but didya read the part about the boys puttin’ out a new album, set to drop on October 9th? The boys are puttin’ out a new album, set to drop on October 9th.

But first lemme hip ya to more on Macon Greyson…

Most of an artists’ best work is created when they are bushed. Whether they are tired of routine or just tired of the banality of existing art, from weariness comes excellence. That line of equilibrium is balanced on Macon Greyson’s newest studio album, 20th Century Accidents. The lyrical content on the album addresses many significant topics and the musical backing provides a breathing force of pure guitar bliss. Steadying away from being pigeon-holed, the album declines participation in the simple categorization of country and instead gives the listener ample opportunity to rock out.

Often confused as a group fronted by an individual singer-songwriter named Macon Greyson, the four-piece actually started as a band with no name but plenty of ideas. Lead singer Buddy Huffman met drummer Badger Vass through mutual friends, and Badger brought in his friends Harley Husbands and Fred Kousal to play lead guitars and bass, respectively. Legendary Texan musician Ray Wylie Hubbard, who served as their inspiration in more ways than one by both thinking up the name “Macon Greyson” and providing his keen ear for their fundamental sound, produced their first studio album, 2000’s Miles From Here. However, as time would roll on, the men of Macon Greyson would discover that they not only had a recognizable talent for producing country-laden roots rock but also defiantly unabashed guitar rock.

This rock-infused sound that blended the talents of the four-piece was presented on their most recent critically acclaimed album, 2006’s Translate. Blending straightforward rock with meaningful lyrics, Buddy Huffman began to incorporate the music he loved to play with the lyrics he had to write. His talent for looking towards the future, but consecutively presenting his thoughts on the world he saw around him, would become part of the band’s trademark sound that launched them out of the stratosphere of mindless rock.

On 20th Century Accidents the band has tightened up, and is now perfectly comfortable to deliver the old school rock that speaks so cleverly to their fellow devotees of jaded and cynical music with an edge. It is for that reason that comparisons simply don’t do Macon Greyson justice. For Buddy Huffman, a lyricist who takes his inspiration from the likes of Kurt Vonnegut and legendary rock heroes, a good old fashioned rock’n'roll album is just another outlet to express his thoughts on the world around him.

Paralleling political rock in the 1970’s very closely in both sound and lyrical content, Macon Greyson is hoping to dispossess prevalent typecasts that call for Americans to ignore what is happening in the world. The theme of some major tracks (including “Minnesota Weatherman,” “Right or Wrong” and “Black Light”) is about embracing individuality as a strength of character, not a personality weakness. As Huffman explains, “The songs are about watching destruction and knowing that it happens, but not trying to fix it. Individuality shouldn’t be an isolationist stance.”

Each track on Accidents attracts the listener with a remarkably important story. “John Q Blues” sounds as though Paul McCartney got trapped in an elevator with Ace Frehley, and the result was a 3 minute opus to catchy hooks. On one of the standouts of the album, “I’m Still Here,” Huffman’s lyrical boldness is incorporated into roots rock stript to its core. Blending lyrics primarily influenced by Huffman’s notable muse, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., into bluegrass-style accompaniment, the track is a simple and delicate illustration of social commentary. Over all the tracks, the combination of cerebral lyrics with expertly executed musical accompaniment makes each member in Macon Greyson vitally important to the unique sound emanating from this rock band out of Dallas, Texas.Macon Greyson has managed to marshal a strong seventies rock sound that has been seldom heard since the end of the Vietnam era. They give up a little country dirt (which can be expected from any band hailing from the fore-regions of Texas), but they mostly rely on the ability to warp their sound into an irrationally abandoned genre that deferred with the advent of computers. Whether you live and breathe garage rock like AC/DC or whether you are more of a subscriber to poignant ballads, Macon Greyson covers it. Quite simply- if all bands had Macon Greyson’s natural ability to combine activist lyrics with catchy melodies, the world would be better for it.

Macon Greyson, along with their label Fat Caddy Records are set to release 20th Century Accidents on October 9th. Oh wait. Did I already mention it?

Loads of dates up and down Texas and Oklahoma can be found here or here.

Meantime here’s a lil’ sumpin’ sumpin’ for your listening pleasure…

“Beams” by Macon Grayson (From the forthcoming album, 20th Century Accidents set to drop on October 9th)