Do Not Mistake Those Darlins For A Bluegrass Or Country Band

BY TOM NETHERLAND | SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER
Mistaken identity follows Those Darlins like a bad Tim McGraw song.
Rolling Stone magazine called them bluegrass. They’re not. A newspaper in Indianapolis referred to them as an all-girls-only band. Not true.
So just who are Those Darlins?
Find out when the three women and one-man band play this month’s Border Bash on State Street in downtown Bristol. Or simply read on.
“Rolling Stone called us bluegrass,” said Jessi Darlin by phone Monday from her home in Murfreesboro, Tenn. “We’re not bluegrass.”
Formed in 2006, Those Darlins classify as sort of a country equivalent to punk rock’s Ramones. Well, at least in terms of their name. There’s Jessi Darlin, Kelley Darlin and Nikki Darlin, who like the Ramones share fake though identical last names. Add drummer Linwood Regensberg – also known as Sheriff Lin – and you have Those Darlins.
Musically, however, they’re more of a pop band.
“It’s true,” Jessi Darlin said. “Pop in a sense of popular. We write short songs with simple melodies.”
Do not mistake them. Those Darlins are absolutely not Britney Spears-styled pop. Instead, they hearken to earlier generations’ definitions of popular music.
“It’s the real pop,” Jessi Darlin said.
However, as exhibited on the band’s forthcoming debut album (due in stores on July 1), a fair amount of old country music filters into their wildly elastic sound. Particularly when the group started, country music served as a guide of sorts.
“We were kind of obsessed with it,” Jessi Darlin said. “Then we started writing our own songs and adding them into our shows one at a time. All of a sudden, we had a whole set of originals.”
Such as the rhythmically country “Snaggle Tooth Mama,” which Jessi Darlin wrote.
“Then we realized that we couldn’t really pull off the old country sound, and so things started getting faster and louder,” she said. “After a while we thought, ‘We can do whatever we want to do.’ ”
Sample their new album on their Web site for evidence. There’s a sizzling cover of Uncle Dave Macon’s “Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy,” the aforementioned and rollicking “Snaggle Tooth Mama” and a Beatles-like rendering of A.P. Carter’s “Cannonball Blues.”
To ears tuned to country, Those Darlins may sound country. To ears that roll with rock, Those Darlins may sound like a rock band.
“That’s dead on,” Jessi Darlin said. “So many people have so many different descriptions of us. Some people compare us to [punk rock pioneers] Iggy and the Stooges and the Ramones and we’re like what?! Some people compare us with the Dixie Chicks and we’re like what?!”
Look to the influences of Those Darlins for a better idea as to their sound. Take the get-to-the-point clarity of the Carter Family.
Mix it with dollops of punk rock attitude a la Ramones. Then pep it up with pop, and whatever comes out, you have Those Darlins.
“We just play,” Jessi Darlin said. “The sound of the song is dependent on what we’re listening to at the time.”
That approach helps them from falling into a musical rut.
“We don’t want to be pigeonholed as just a country band or just a rock band,” Jessi Darlin said. “We want to expand our audience and welcome everybody in.”

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .

IF YOU GO
What: Border Bash featuring Those Darlins and Oneside
When: June 19, 6 p.m.
Where: Downtown Bristol, State Street
Admission: Free
Info: (276) 645-0111 OR (423) 573-2200
Web and free audio download: http://www.thosedarlins.com