He's too open-minded and anti-establishment to personify the stereotypes that go with such a label. But the Bottle Rockets frontman from small-town Missouri exudes Midwestern values: He's friendly and polite, concerned about being a good neighbor, and the kind of musician who hangs around after shows to talk to fans. In short, he's the kind of guy you could toss down a few beers with while talking about your favorite ZZ Top albums, politics, and what's happening to the little towns that have long made up the fabric of this country.
Except leave out the beers. After years of abusing himself with alcohol, Henneman's sober, which is reflected by the tight rocking, clear focus of the alt-country band's new release "Zoysia." "You end up doing a sound check and you're done by 6 o'clock in the evening and then you play at like 11 o'clock.
What do you do? You've got free liquor all around you and there's no better way to make that time fly than to get wasted drunk." The tour and "Zoysia," which is inarguably one of the band's best discs, find the group finally settled after years of lineup changes, record label hassles, and being vastly underrated by the record-buying public.
The band's last disc, "Blue Sky" was good, but spotty and according to Henneman, 45, not a reflection of the Bottle Rockets' true sound, which is an amalgam of vintage Neil Young and Crazy Horse along with Uncle Tupelo and a hint of Buck Owens. Released in 2003, it came after both of Henneman's parents had died and while band members were coming and going. Second guitarist Tom Parr had left and was not replaced, leading to a live sound that was more "power trio jam band" oriented than usual.
So they overcompensated on "Blue Sky" with a collection that was quieter and more rootsy, he said. "There was some weird stuff going down with 'Blue Sky.' I'm not ashamed of it or apologizing for it, but it didn't come out exactly like we wanted it to.
" The Rockets reloaded with Mark Ortmann staying on as drummer along with Henneman, who is lead singer and rhythm guitar player, and then adding second guitarist John Horton and bassist Keith Voegele (who replaced Robert Kearns). Henneman says this is his favorite lineup and he'd "kill" Voegele if he tried to quit because he fits in so well. Horton gives the band much-needed flexibility, he said.
"For the first time in our career, we have a second guitar player who's totally fantastic at lead guitar, slide, and all that stuff. So just technically from the musical end it's entirely different," Henneman said. "Zoysia" kicks off with a pair of fuzz-guitar driven rockers and then settles into a groove where Henneman tackles everything from bad breakups, kicking alcohol, racism, and the pitfalls of mindless conformity on a series of songs best described as country rock.
The disc ends with the seven-minute title track, a long, literate, hypnotic jam that uses the name of a type of grass (zoysia) as a metaphor for how people learn to get along. Henneman knows what the pundits miss: Most Americans share a core set of values that transcend politics or screaming matches that pit liberal vs. conservative.
"I was riding around, listening to the radio," he sings. "Why they say those things, I just don't know/Some states are red, some states are blue/We like to simplify and believe that it's true/If the neighbor gets the zoysia grass, buddy you get the zoysia, too." From their first album in 1993, the Bottle Rockets have long explored the country's blue-collar roots on tracks such as "Rural Route," "Welfare Music," and "1,000 Dollar Car.
" Even though he now lives in St. Louis, Henneman said he never strays too far from his hometown of Festus, Mo., both in the sensibility that informs his lyrics and in the music.
The band has generally been labeled "alt-country," which he said doesn't do much to sell discs. "That's like a sticker on the front of the album that says, 'Do not play this on the radio,' " he said. But he's not complaining, noting that the band has long had a built-in audience that allows it to keep touring and recording.
It's now on the Bloodshot Records label, which houses a fair number of like-minded indie artists such as Alejandro Escovedo, Old 97's, and Neko Case. And the band also has a famous fan, author Stephen King, who told Entertainment Weekly that "Zoysia" was one of his favorite discs of 2006. Henneman chortled and said he had no explanation for why King might be so fond of the album.
"I've never thought about what kind of music Stephen King may actually like," he said. "That was shocking; it's exactly as shocking as if I found out Muhammad Ali liked it." The Bottle Rockets perform tomorrow night in the Maumee Indoor Theater, 601 Conant St.
, Maumee. Tickets are $15 to $25 at the door. Doors open at 8 p.
m. and an opening act will take the stage at 9.
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