Sassparilla
Honey, I’m Using Again
Sassparilla emerged from the Portland music scene playing raw country blues and bluegrass-influenced tunes. The band consists of Kevin Blackwell, Doug Ebert, and Dan Powell. Blackwell now lives in Golden, Colorado, where Honey, I’m Using Again was recorded. The stripped-down sessions were recorded in Kevin’s basement with his 13-year-old son Emmett joining on drums on some songs.
The fifteen songs on Honey, I’m Using Again are gritty, banjo-driven tales of people just barely holding things together. Like classic blues and country, the songs revolve around hard times, hard choices, and human frailty. The album opens with “When I Get Off This Mountain,” which starts with the singer saying “when I get off this mountain, gonna get myself a drink” He then contemplates atonement and giving up the bottle as something he should do. Addiction is a constant companion. “She’s passed out on the bathroom floor with a shit eating grin on her face,” opens “Eyes of Kathleen.” It’s an odd way to start a love song, but so it goes. “What’cha gonna do when a woman like that’s in love with you? From the day we met I’ve been on my knees. There’s no place else I’d rather be.”
The album ends on a pessimistic note, with “Honey, I’m Using Again.” The singer has been looking for a way out, but his efforts end in relapse. It’s the unironic end of our Southern Gothic tour of the down and out in rural America. This is the part of Americana that Nashville won’t talk about, so it’s left to alt-country troubadours like Kevin Blackwell to tell uncomfortable truths.
