At its worst, outlaw country had a kissin’ cousins relationship to Southern rock. Hence the uncomfortable resemblance between the Marshall Tucker Band and Hank Williams Jr.’s less-countrified moments. Which is the problem with Whiskey Myers and Mud: This Tyler fivepiece clearly thinks stomping down onto the Lynyrd Skynyrd side of the divide is a good thing. When they channel deep soul roots (the horn-punctuated “Lightning Bugs and Rain”), especially when they drive into Muscle Shoals as on “Stone,” this works like plugging a Fender Telecaster into a Fender Twin Reverb: an unbeatable combination that suggests Whiskey Rivers’ talents are best served navigating white soul/country soul tributaries. Sadly, those moments are few and far between. Instead, you get a lot of nasty redneck rock à la “Hank.” The fact it’s an ode to Bocephus and not his father embodies everything that’s wrong with Mud.
This article appears in September 23 • 2016.
