Roots Act

Mallett Brothers Band

Sure, David and Goliath and your basic comeback story are nice on occasion, but sometimes Goliath deserves a victory and it’s nice to see him claim it. The Mallett Brothers Band do things their way, without compromise, and their appeal is wide, from Clint Black country fans to Bill Monroe traditionalists to dudes who aren’t opposed to hearing “Freebird” out of the back of the truck now and again. There’s no put on, and they finish every gig with a hard sweat. Tack onto that the Brothers themselves, one with an alter-ego as a back-woods rapper and the other a “most eligible bachelor,” and you’ve got a band that’s damn likable. They mix their sounds, mash up genres, and manage to deliver something both original and familiar, which is your basic musical sweet spot. Low Down has some serious substance, too, feeding off its title track. It’s workingman without being pandering, blue-collar without being patronizing. The themes of working hard and playing hard, thinking it should maybe be a little easier, and situational awareness resonate loud and clear as the “real world” becomes increasingly manufactured and untrustworthy. If anything, this kind of landslide victory is evidence that sometimes things really are what they seem. Which can be hard to believe sometimes. | mallettbrothersband.com RUNNERS-UP: Dark Hollow Bottling Company, McCarthys, Steve Jones

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