Америкалық рок тобы "Bottle Rockets" туралы

American rock band

The Bottle Rockets were an American rock band formed in Festus, Missouri in 1992, and was based in St. Louis, Missouri. Its founding members were Brian Henneman (guitar, vocals), Mark Ortmann (drums), Tom Parr (1992–2002, guitar, vocals) and Tom Ray (1992–1997, bass guitar); the most recent lineup consisted of Henneman, Ortmann, John Horton (joined 2003, guitar) and Keith Voegele (joined 2005, bass, vocals). Most members of the band have contributed to their catalog of original songs, as have Robert Parr (Tom's brother) and schoolteacher Scott Taylor (who writes lyrics for some of Henneman's tunes). As noted in the New York Times by William Hogeland, the Bottle Rockets' songwriting has been likened to Woody Guthrie's folk style in spirit, smarts, and satire. The band's lyrics encapsulate the common experiences of the everyman, and are set to rousing and searing rock 'n' roll. The band has been named as one of the leaders of the '90s alt country/roots rock revival, alongside Uncle Tupelo. The strong social commentary of their songs reflects the influences of Woody Guthrie, Neil Young and The Replacements.

For much of the Nineties, Missouri's Bottle Rockets were the torchbearers for smart Southern style rock.—Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone
The Bottle Rockets released their self titled first album in 1993. The Brooklyn Side followed on East Side Digital, in 1994, to resounding critical acclaim. Most of the original staff who promoted The Brooklyn Side had been laid off or fired from Atlantic. The release of the Bottle Rockets' next record, 24 Hours a Day, was delayed until late 1997. The band parted ways with Atlantic in 1998. In the series, which is narrated by Ani DiFranco, Brian Henneman says that he and the band are "reporters from the heartland" writing stories about their friends. The Bottle Rockets performed live at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC at the premiere for the film, and also appear on the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings soundtrack. Bottle Rockets then signed with Doolittle records, which later became New West Records. Doolittle released an EP of outtakes from 24 Hours A Day called Leftovers in 1998. About this time, Tom Ray was replaced on bass by Robert Kearns. The Bottle Rockets' fourth full length record, Brand New Year, was released on Doolittle in 1999. "Power hooks and muscular guitar fights that would make Skynyrd proud" and "'70s power rock with a dirty edge—sort of ZZ Top meets Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Bad Company" is the calling card of Brand New Year.

The Bottle Rockets performed at the Horseshoe Tavern in early 2000. The band again had problems with their record label, and did not record anything else until Songs of Sahm, a collection of songs by Doug Sahm, which came out on Chicago label Bloodshot Records in early 2002. Shortly after finishing this record, Parr left the band. Bottle Rockets toured as a three piece for a while, and recorded their fifth full length record Blue Sky (which was released in 2003 on the Sanctuary label), before adding multi instrumentalist John Horton to the band. Kearns amicably split with the band in the spring of 2005. After a brief search the Bottle Rockets named Keith Voegele as their new bassist. the band endured a decade of subsequent hard luck, including problems with record companies, a UPS strike holding up distribution of one of their new records, band personnel changes, and family emergencies. Concurrent with the band's business difficulties, grunge and alternative rock came to prominence. As a result, the music industry effectively abandoned traditional rock artists, in favor of marketing more trendy acts. The path Henneman and the Bottle Rockets had been on seemed to disappear. Despite those struggles, in 2005, founders Brian Henneman and Mark Ortmann got the band back on course, along with the newest additions John Horton and Keith Voegele, the current line up of band members. The band also re hired their manager from the early days, Bob Andrews.

The Bottle Rockets' first live album Live in Heilbronn Germany was released in February 2006. The double disc set was recorded on July 17, 2005 at the Burgerhaus, Heilbronn Bockingen, Germany with the band's current roster. It was released in Europe on CD and vinyl by Blue Rose Records. Bloodshot Records released the band's next album, Zoysia, recorded in Ardent Studios in Memphis with producer Jeff Powell, in June 2006. Zoysia (zoy zhuh), a metaphor for tolerance and centered values and common ground, is a hardy grass, plentiful in Festus/Crystal City and Saint Louis, Missouri, where these hardworking musicians grew up. After years of misleading portrayals of the band's music as "hillbilly", the band's catalog proves otherwise with themes of maturity, generosity of spirit, neighborliness, insightful self reflection, personal roots and modern society, individualism, pride of place, slow mending hearts, and post 9/11 reality through the filter of a couple's romance. The Bottle Rockets continued with Zoysia:

On May 2, The Bottle Rockets played a special concert at the High Dive in Champaign, IL that was filmed for an upcoming live concert documentary DVD release. The set list included "Hard Times," "Done It All," "Shame On Me," "Give Me Room," "Way It Used to Be" and "The Long Way" from the then forthcoming Lean Forward album. Lean Forward was released by Bloodshot Records. The album charted on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart at No. 23.

On November 27, 2017, permission was granted to the Live Music Archive at the Internet Archive to add a collection for live audio recordings for public download and noncommercial, royalty free circulation. As of March 2018, over 100 live recordings had been posted to that site.

On March 2, 2021, the band announced its retirement, for reasons as posted to its public Facebook account: "It’s with a sad heart that we announce this uneasy news: Brian has decided to retire from the Bottle Rockets. Although he’s in good health, he’s been feeling the passage of time and has lost interest in anything that distracts from or takes him away from home. Unfortunately, this means the Bottle Rockets can’t continue as we know it."

Bottle Rockets Live in Heilbronn, Germany. Blue Rose
The Mississippi River Of Song: The Grassroots of American Music. Smithsonian Institution and the Filmmakers Collaborative.