One of the Midwest's hardest-working bands, Backyard Tire Fire has managed to carve out enough time between extensive touring and the recording of their just-completed fourth full-length disc, Vagabonds and Hooligans (due January 2007), to assemble the compact-but-mighty Skin and Bones EP. Something of a postcard from the trenches, the six-cut Skin and Bones collates a pair of gems culled from the upcoming Vagabonds (the wistful, breezy "Don't Know What To Do" and "Downtime," a muscular, Southern rock blazer) with two "EP-only" treasures from those same sessions and closes with a couple of examples of their estimable ëlive' firepower recorded at Schuba's in Chicago. The bonus outtakes from the Vagabonds sessions are "Tired of Being Tired" (a self-explanatory lament riding a smoldering, Neil Young-esque dirge) and "Skin and Bones" (a laconic, tightly-wound blues), while the live tracks are a cover of Barry Cowsill's tail-draggin' shit-kicker "Crack Alley" and "Blood on the Strings" (a tongue-in-cheek send-up of "ain't life on the road a bitch" pity parties which made its first appearance on BTF's 2002 debut, Live at the Georgia Theatre). Skin and Bones will be available beginning October 17th as a digital download and at BTF's live shows. Via extensive touring (from clubs to festivals), BTF has built reputation as a compelling, remarkably flexible live act, sharing stages with such diverse luminaries as Son Volt, James McMurtry, The Radiators, Alejandro Escovedo, Jackie Greene, The Mother Hips and Dan Bern - and gathering a hard-won fan-base along the way. Through it all, BTF continued to spread the stylistic court, dipping into folk, pop, alt-country, Southern rock, R&B and rock 'n' roll, all of which was imbued with Ed Anderson's deft, seemingly-effortless lyrical gift for illuminating blue-collar miniatures with shock-of-recognition detail and a voice as comfortably worn as a favorite shirt. The band's uncommon growth and casual command of their material were underscored by their slinky third disc (2005's Bar Room Semantics), which drew across-the-board critical acclaim while garnering glowing comparisons to Drive-By Truckers (Harp), Jeff Tweedy/Wilco (Cincinnati's City Beat), the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown (Americana UK), Slobberbone, Neil Young and Gram Parsons (Dallas Observer), Violent Femmes (JamBase) and Jay Farrar/Uncle Tupelo (Illinois Times). Like its predecessor (and the upcoming Vagabonds and Hooligans), Skin and Bones was co-produced by BTF and Tony SanFilippo with organic, old-school immediacy at SanFilippo's proudly-analog Oxide Lounge Recording studio in Bloomington. Backyard Tire Fire continues to hone and expand upon Anderson's distinctive, pan-genre songbook, tapping into the serpentine roots mÈlange that's fueled fellow-travelers Brent Best (Slobberbone, The Drams), Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Adam Levy (The Honeydogs) and many more. Like their malodorous namesake, this band's pungent flame can neither be ignored nor easily extinguishedóthey ain't goin'' away, so get wise and surrender to the magic - Jim Musser ED ANDERSON - vocals, guitars
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