Pawtuckets Break Regional Boundaries
by John Brandon (Twangzine)

Knoxville, Tennessee is not known as a mecca of country music. Located just north of the Blue Ridge 
mountains, it is a point of convergence for the Meigs and Tennessee rivers and also home of the 
Tennessee Valley Authority. A quick stopover for Confederate troops on their way to Nashville, it 
served as a convenient train route during the Civil War. Now it has become a college town, not quite as 
hip as Athens to the south, but clean and relatively uncongested.

Winding dirt roads follow the even-more-winding rivers and lead to either one more trailer park on the 
edge of the unknown, or to some four-lane highway that can carry you away to a bigger, better place. 
Somewhere on one of these winding roads, jacked up off the ground to help with signal displacement, 
sits a camper with a fifteen foot antenna rising into the Blue Ridge skies. It's radio station WDVX, 
broadcasting live all the way to the next county, featuring a new bluegrass band from Memphis known 
as Pawtuckets (with an S).

Well, it's not exactly a bluegrass band, but in this spatially-challenged camper drums and amps are 
just not possible. You get to play on WDVX by invitation only, which is something of an honor for the 
band, despite the cramped studio where drummer Anthony Barrasso is playing percussion on a 
kitchen table. A single RCA mic hangs from the ceiling, where Mark Mckinney and Andy Grooms are 
singing their hearts out on 2000 watts of obscurity.

"It was possibly the coolest gig ever," explained Mark, founding member and one-half of the writing 
combo for the band. "That end of the trailer is studio C. The other end, where the DJ station is set up - 
that's A. I could reach from C to A with the end of my mandolin."

And little did those Knoxville residents know that what they were hearing could well be one of the best 
alt-country bands to emerge from the old confederacy in years. Though it's often hard to tell their 
voices apart, the core of the band is Mark and pal Andy Grooms, who met by accident.

"Andy had more experience in the singer/songwriter scene," Mark remembered. "I decided that maybe 
the coffeehouse circuit just wasn't my thing, so I tried some bars. Andy came to check out the show, 
and stuck around for the whole thing. He probably felt like he was stuck because he was one of 14 
people in the place."

Something must have stuck from that night. After securing a drummer and bass player, the band set 
out to write some songs. Long jam sessions helped them figure out who they wanted to be, which is 
something akin to a Midwestern sound ala The Jayhawks, but fused with a more jangily Uncle Tupelo. 
Once they added Kevin Cubbins on lead guitar and pedal steel, the sound got tighter and they were 
ready for the road.

Although it wasn't written up in Rolling Stone or featured on MTV, the Pawtuckets East Coast Tour 
went as far north as Chapel Hill and as far south as Savannah. The tour was supported by their own 
self-created label, Madjack Records. For Mark, the band and the label make up a full-time job.

"We also spend a lot of time checking out the bands that come through on the circuit," said Mark, 
citing favorites such as Drive By Truckers, Lucero, and The Tares. "But the Pawtuckets all grew up 
listening to the same music: The Band, The Stones, Big Star."

Those influences are most obvious on their sophomore release, "Rest of our Days." The album has 
some frequent Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt tinges, but the sound is just slightly more country - and all 
their own. Songs range from the hard rocking ("Setup") to the tongue-in-cheek ("Mississippi Parking 
Lot," about an unfortunate incident in a car) to the deeply personal ("Emily," which is about Mark's wife 
- who died just weeks before the album was recorded). The best song is the opening track, 
"Blackberry Winter."

"That song is about a spring cold spell that wipes out the blackberries for the year. My Grandmother 
use to tell me about it when I was a kid. I used the idea to describe how things can seem to be going 
your way, then unexpectedly take a bad turn and throw things outof whack."

Currently, the band is getting national attention in No Depression and Billboard magazines. Upcoming 
gigs include a double-bill with Drive By Truckers, and a fall tour up to Chicago. 

Hopefully, this time their tour won't find them in a cramped camper-turned-radio station.