When
Nirvana and
Pearl Jam went through the roof commercially in the early '90s, there was a real "out with the old, in with the new" attitude in the rock world. That was when music loosely defined as alternative rock, or alternative pop/rock, took over in a major way; from then on, most Baby Boomer artists were considered old-school rather than cutting edge. But despite all that early-'90s upheaval, roots rock never went away -- and in some cases, bands have found ways to blend alt rock and roots rock. It isn't necessarily done in a calculated fashion; it's doubtful that most alt rock/roots rock bands that emerged in the '90s or 2000s actually sat down and consciously said, "OK, let's combine
Tom Petty,
John Cougar Mellencamp, or
Bruce Springsteen with
Live, Creed, or
Pearl Jam. But that has been the type of result a band can get when it unites different influences from different eras. Like
Tonic,
Cracker, and
Train,
Ingram Hill has one foot in roots rock and the other in alternative pop/rock -- and on their first full-length album,
June's Picture Show, the Memphis residents pull it off with good taste and sincerity. The bluesy, gritty earthiness of this material underscores the band's southern roots, but
Ingram Hill are hardly a rip-off of
Lynyrd Skynyrd,
.38 Special, or
the Outlaws. While those were whiskey-soaked party bands that thrived on redneck stereotypes -- they were like the Dukes of Hazard with electric guitars --
Ingram Hill bring a lot of introspection and sensitivity to the table. And they also show an ability to simultaneously draw on influences that are alternative (
Tonic,
Cracker) and non-alternative (
Mellencamp,
Tom Petty,
the Black Crowes).
June's Picture Show falls short of magnificent, but it's a solid, well-crafted, and respectable effort from the Tennessee natives. ~ Alex Henderson