Music Family tradition

Chris Scruggs

If any young country singer can lay claim to following in the family tradition, it's Chris Scruggs. The son of Nashville singer/producer Gail Davies, and grandson of bluegrass' greatest banjo innovator, Earl Scruggs, this 23-year-old revivalist could almost qualify for country music's hall of fame on the strength of his bloodlines alone.

Fortunately, Scruggs has brought his own musical twists to the hayride. An adolescent punk rocker who lived for a spell in England, his fascination with roots music was stirred not by the Grand Ole Opry, but by live-fast-die-young '50s rocker Eddie Cochran. After a three-year stint fronting the Nashville band BR549, Scruggs has embarked on a solo career that takes Cochran's rousing rock to the honky-tonk. From the pure slap-back rockabilly of "Two Door Ford" to the vintage country swing of "Hold My Baby," Scruggs gets by on his natural authority, his confident command of the basics.

Chris Scruggs 9:30pm Sat, Aug 27 Casbeers 1719 Blanco Rd. 732-3511

Just to let you know he's not a cardboard cutout of a rockabilly rebel or honky-tonk hero, he offers "Sober Up and Think." It's a straight-edge scolding directed at someone whose wild behavior is getting the best of them. It's not a message you would have heard from hedonists like Cochran or Gene Vincent, but it would probably bring a smile to grandpa's face. •

- Gilbert Garcia