Reckless Kelly defies niche

A few things have changed since the Austin country-rockers Reckless Kelly last came through town.

For one, they don’t put out their own albums anymore. That honor goes to Sugar Hill Records, home to heavy hitters like Dolly Parton and Nickel Creek, which means a whole lot more people are going to hear the band’s fourth album.

“This is our first real turn with a big record label,” says Cody Braun on a cell phone from Austin, Texas. “It’s another step up from where we were. We’re all just thrilled.”

Reckless Kelly plays the Iota Club and Cafe tonight, as part of a tour that will take them up and down the East Coast.

Cody Braun lends his considerable fiddle, mandolin and vocal harmony skills to his brother Willy Braun’s songwriting, guitar playing and singing chops. It makes for a potent combination of country-tinged rock, but playing with genres didn’t initially help the band land a record deal.

“We’ve had trouble on the business end of things,” Cody Braun says. “Managers would shy away from us: ‘If you guys don’t fit in the niche, there’s nothing we can do with you.’”

Lucky for the group, fans packed into tiny clubs didn’t really care what the music was called, so long as they could sing and dance to it. The band, which also includes drummer Jay Nazz, guitarist David Abeyta and bassist Jimmy McFeeley, even fleshed out two shows — one quiet and acoustic, the other a rowdy rockin’ set.

For the brothers, who spent years as part of a family Western swing band called Muzzie Braun and the Boys, the road has been in their blood for years. With their father and two other siblings, they even played the Grand Ole Opry, the mecca of music for anyone with even a little country in his or her blood.

“I think we both knew early on [what we wanted to do] pretty much out of high school, when we didn’t go to college,” Cody Braun said. “We were going to move to Bend, Oregon, go there for a year or two and kind of see what happened.”

The band lasted less than a year in Oregon, after which the brothers decided to move to Austin in 1997. It was one of the best decisions they ever made. The Austin Chronicle named the band the best roots rock act in town three years in a row.

“It’s just awesome,” Mr. Braun says. “Not only the crowds, but there are so many places to play, and the audiences just come out and support live music. It’s that way pretty much all over Texas.”

Almost three years have passed since the band released a new record, but the wait was certainly worth it. “Under the Table and Above the Sun,” released in May, is the band’s strongest album to date, with songs inspired by Jack Kerouac (“Desolation Angels”) and the early Beatles (“Mercy Beat”).

“The band has matured a lot. We’re getting better as a band and we’re playing a ton of shows,” Mr. Braun says.

Having producer Ray Kennedy (of Steve Earle fame) work with them was an added bonus. Shunning modern computer recording equipment, Mr. Kennedy had the band use real vintage amps and guitars and preferred the raw sound to slick production.

Story Continues →