The South will rise again. Even if it has to happen all the way out in the Golden State. If you haven’t already had the pleasure, please make the acquaintance of Shotgun Sawyer. They’re a power trio from Auburn, Calif., northeast of Sacramento on the highway to Reno. Not exactly the place where you’d expect to find a band that fuses blues-rock, boogie-metal and stoner-sludge into a high-powered, high-volume hybrid designed to be played in biker bars and blasted out of muscle cars. But that’s precisely what you get on their punishingly potent sophomore album Bury the Hatchet, a 40-minute blast of pure adrenaline shot straight into your head, heart, soul and guts. Reportedly recorded live to tape in two days with zero edits or overdubs, it’s a disc that makes it clear these guys aren’t kidding around. And a disc that asks (and answers) the age-old musical question: What would it sound like if Lemmy from Motörhead, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and Jack White formed a blues band with a slab of BBQ ribs and a case of tequila?
