Catfish Whiskey CD Release Party

Fort Worth's Catfish Whiskey has been around since 2003 but did not start recording the band's studio debut, Blood & Bones, until last year. Honing their swampy mix of blues and psychedelic-tinged country during the interim, Keegan McInroe and the rest of this quartet are now ready for, and deserving of, wider exposure. Lengthy jams such as "King Solomon Blues" and "Meet Me on the Road" are raw, lowdown cuts that never are content to settle for the basic boogie self-indulgence. Echoes of Dylan, Tom Waits and even Southern rock legends like the Allman Brothers commingle expressively in the hands of these four rather unseemly characters from Cowtown. Catfish Whiskey features players (especially bassist Travis Dixon) adept enough to switch from the mellow and atmospheric "New Guinea" to the jazzy and atonal "Cooking Pot." Such variety speaks well for their continued development. Besides his dry, urgent vocals, McInroe's guitar interplay with Michael Maftean is backed up by a subtle rhythm section, creating music perfectly suited to the smokiest bars and the well-inebriated patrons within.