The above photo represents how The Bottle Rockets once were. Sort of, anyway.
Brian Henneman is still around, of course — but doesn’t look like that now, thanks to an Atkins diet that left him in tip-top shape. Henneman still shares the stage with drummer Mark Ortmann (far right), but Tom Ray and Tom Parr have been replaced by bassist Keith Voegele and St. Louis guitarist John Horton.
You might say that’s a lot of changes, and I only bring them up because the BRox recently re-released their first two albums (buy them here via Bloodshot): their self-titled debut, and its follow-up, the uber-popular The Brooklyn Side (you know, the one with “Radar Gun,” “Thousand Dollar Car,” “Gravity Fails,” and “I’ll Be Comin’ Around“).
On Saturday, you have another chance to see this legendary band in St. Louis, this time at Off Broadway. Get those tickets now ($15-18), and have a listen to a demo of “Indianapolis,” found on the aforementioned re-issues, which features Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and Jay Farrar of Son Volt, below.