The Groobees Buy One Get Eleven Free (Downtime)

The Groobees

Buy One Get Eleven Free (Downtime)

If you're not familiar with Amarillo's Groobees, odds are you've heard their song "Wide Open Spaces" interpreted by the Dixie Chicks on their multi-platinum release of the same name. Buy One ..., the follow-up to the Groobees' eponymous debut containing that lucrative tune, is chock-full of more original music, merging folk, county, blues, and rock into their own acoustically fueled fashion. Most of the album's 14 numbers were written by singer Susan Gibson, who also lends guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and other lead vox Scott Merlott, who supplies keyboards, accordion, and guitar. Rounding out the fivepiece are Todd Hall (drums/backing vox), Bobby Schaffer (bass), and Gary Thomason (guitar/backing vox), and the entire band turns in a nice effort here, both in composition and execution. The whole thing gets well documented by Lloyd Maines, famed Lone Star knob-twister and musician, who does a fine job coaxing performances that sound both live and polished. The mid-tempo tunes deal with your basic relationship issues, such as old flames ("Old Boyfriend's Things") and breakups ("Walls Come Down"), yet it's the slice-of-life tunes -- such as "Ballad of an Opening Band" and "Cheap Trucker's Speed" -- that come off best. While there's nothing groundshakingly new offered on Buy One..., it's a significant step for a band that's on the way up.