It seems that these days, the unspoken prerequisites to performing in a rogue folk band like Mama Tried are a thorough knowledge of rock/punk music, as well as a more than apt ability for playing it.  Think:  Billy Bragg joins Wilco, Flogging Molly’s ties to Motorhead and Krokus, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar before they were the now–defunct Uncle Tupelo, a hard rockin’ Nemo before they became The Avett Brothers and Texas’ own The O’s who have been known to configure a Zeplin tune with the acoustic bliss of Dustbowl strings.

Not only is the Mama Tried namesake a tribute to Merle Haggard’s song “Mama Tried,” but it also is a tribute to their late friend and band mate Frankie Cooper.   Cooper’s untimely death eventually put an end to the raucous, scream-thrashing Grave Robbers band wherein three of the MT members had previously played.

“If Frankie were alive today, he’d be playing in the band [Mama Tried] with us.  Oh! He loved Haggard!” Redman said.

But don’t request that the band play its namesake song.

“That song [‘Mama Tried’] is too country cliché.  We take pride in our own writing,” Redman explained.

Although Mama Tried echoes in the tradition of No Depression (see www.nodepression.com) revivalists, the quintet spins its own distinctive sound with a twist of Gulf coast saltwater and sunburn.  Also, each member brings to the band his own experience from his former punk, reggae or thrash metal band which adds more texture and diversity to the Mama Tried sound.  As a result, categorizing their music proves challenging, an aspect that I believe characterizes an exceptional band.  Just don’t confuse them with the handful of other bands in North America claiming the same name.  Besides, according to co-lead singer Ryan Beard, he and his band mates have legal license to use the name.

Other bands with the same moniker can’t touch the Houston boys in originality.  They write the majority of their songs and certainly arrange what few cover songs they perform in a feverishly intense cross pollination of Celtic call-and-response with a rapid Blue Grass tempo and a Punk-don’t-give-a-damn vein that runs down the middle of their compositions.

At the heart of the Mama Tried sound is a hirsute banjoist whose playing  implores listeners to do a double take if they have never heard the band.  After all, how often does one walk into a Houston tavern or dance hall and hear a banjo player, particularly one like Plsek who looks the part of an Appalachian front porch musician?  He may not hail from the hollers of Kentucky, but I’d bet my money on him in a banjo duel.  Like his band mates J-Bone and Baughman, Plsek is a devout Jerry Garcia fan, taking much of his influence from Garcia’s banjo expertise.  Long before the late Garcia assembled The Grateful Dead, he was a young San Francisco folkie whose first love was the banjo, a sensitive instrument few master.  The 31 year old Plsek plays with a seasoned style and a tattered license that screams, “I know the rules, so I can break the rules!”

Mama Tried filled League City’s tiny Easy Street bar to capacity with 50% die-hard MT followers and with 50% Easy Street regulars who had never experienced the defiant sound of a folk punk band with all acoustic instruments, particularly one with a banjo.  But, the regulars stomped and clog-danced right along with the younger generation until closing time.

“I knocked the heel off of my shoe dancing to these guys!  I’ve never heard anything like them.  They seem to crawl up into their instruments, so in tune with each other, you know.  They stop and start on cue with no hesitation,” said bar patron Kim Cooper.

Pam, the owner of the small neighborhood tavern for the past 20 years, said “They’re so good!  We need to get them on the X-Factor,” but I don’t ever see that happening.  Mama Tried is not a band of pop balladeers who would dare cater to production line monotony of the Nashville and Los Angeles idol makers. It is the band’s unorthodox assault on the senses that seduces audiences who, upon first listen, are instant fans and followers.

After the band’s second set, I thought they would run out of sweat and bid us “G’Night!” No!  They gained more energy instead!  As long as the fans demanded more, and as long as the beer flowed, they continued with freight train momentum.

In between sets, Plsek would trade his banjo for a Hawaiian kahon drum that he sat on to play while accompanying J-Bone who picked away at a set of Pink Floyd covers.  J-Bone stripped the studio commercialism from “Another Brick in the Wall,” and fingerpicked the rock anthem down to its bare essentials, proving that his stringed instruments are really an extension of himself.

They are more than passionate about the music and will “play for a crowd of five or 5000,” J-Bone remarked.

“And nothing stops us!  The show must go on no matter what!” added Beard.
“Yeah, look at my hand,” Redman said proudly, motioning my attention to the eight stitches in his hand that he sported like a badge of honor.   True to form, the band played on, and Redman dutifully kept time with his brushes and three piece drum kit.

Likewise, Beard once played a Corpus Christi gig while suffering from stomach flu when he toured the Gulf Coast in a 26 foot sailboat for 38 days with Plsek and best friend Mark Borde.  From Seabrook to Corpus Christi, the three sailors moored their boat in several sleepy waterfront towns, often playing impromptu performances for various-sized audiences.  In the unforgiving July heat inside an un-air conditioned hull, the crew wrote and recorded an album.  Visit www.guitarstringsandsailboatthings.com to purchase the CD and the journal of their daring adventure.  Clearly, the Gulf coast water took effect on Ryan’s writing like the hurricane Ike-inspired “September 13.”

Before meeting bassist Hunter Baughman, I was told that he is the glue who holds the band together, the peacemaker.  It’s true, and it’s reflected in the psychedelic space theme that adorns his curvaceous beauty of a bass fiddle.  “It’s a constant work in progress, kind of like a tattoo,” he said.  But watch him convulse around the stage and twirl his bass like a sexy tango partner, and few will feel the peace and tranquility reflected in the art work.  He spanks the bottom notes of the tunes with energy that is either dizzying or contagious to spectators.

Ultimately, Mama Tried plays a sound from the past that’s filtered through the present.  Attend one performance, and the next thing you know, you’re stalking the band. They currently have a regular gig on Monday nights at Seabrook’s Cabo. When you do see them, make sure to purchase their CDs Long Road to God’s Country and 29 Rusty Strings.  There is nothing like a dose of Mama Tried on the way into work on a blue Monday morning.  Stop by to “like” and say hello on their FaceBook page and sample their music at www.reverbnation.com.