(PR) Americana/Roots-Rock Outfit Scotland Barr And The Slow Drags To Release Sophomore Full-Length, "All The Great Aviators Agree", Nationally On June 10, 2008 Via Monkey Barr MusicScotland Barr & The Slow Drags recall Jayhawks, Drive by Truckers, Old 97's, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Wallflowers, Kris Kristofferson, J. Webb, Townes VanZant, and Gram Parsons on their sophomore full-length, "All The Great Aviators Agree" (Monkey Barr Music).
Redefining "roots", Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags draw inspiration from The Beach Boys and Warren Zevon as much as they do from Merle Haggard or Gram Parsons. Jangly-pop, gutbucket country, urban-folk, 60ıs psychedelia, and straight-up rock all meet in a sound that has been called "West Coast Roots".
Smokey vocals grapple with soaring 4-part harmonies, keyboards tangle with overdriven guitar, pedal steel bends around an acoustic 6 string, drums irreverently confuse country and rock, all recalling something achingly familiar yet distinctively singular. But, this is nothing out of the ordinary for the six-piece outfit, a band that has been working on melding and blending the sunshine and melody of pop with the dusty, dark roads of country since their 2005 debut, "Legionnaires Disease" (Monkey Barr Music).
Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags originally came together as a studio project in early 2005, entering Portland, Oregon's 8 Ball Studio with a handful of songs. With the help of Portland musicians such as Chris Robley, Jon Itkin, Steve Wilkinson, Rich Landar, Derek Brown (The Eels), Tim Huggins, Marilee Horde, and Skip Vonkuske, Barr emerged with "Legionnaires Disease".
From there, Barr's band, The Slow Drags, were formed. Word of the record spread amongst Portland's music community and soon he found himself with a handful of players who wanted to play with him.
The band then set out to make an EP, which ended up becoming their sophomore full-length, something that surprised and excited the band.