Playing a hard-edged but heartfelt fusion of roots rock, heartland rock, and adult alternative rock, Arizona-based Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers have become one of the most popular acts in the Southwest, and shown that they can succeed on their own terms without a major record label pulling the strings. Their seventh studio album, 2014's The Independent, demonstrates their determination to follow their own lead -- Clyne and his bandmates Jim Dalton (lead guitar), Nick Scropos (bass), and P.H. Naffah (drums) not only wrote, produced, and performed the album themselves and released it on their own Emma Java label, it was recorded in Naffah's studio, giving the band total control over its own musical vision, and the album's songs celebrate the tradition of the rugged individualist as well as the bandmembers working together to buck the odds in the name of good times. Songs include "Ain't Got the Words," "Stick It to the Man," "Love Knows How," "California Breakdown," and six others.