Got drunk last night? It was probably Big Bender Record's fault. The only independent label out of the Rocky Mountain hemisphere, Big Bender Records has compiled a greatest hits off their artists’ roster. If you haven’t heard of Spiv, The Shitkickers, or Clint Clymer, now’s your chance to discover some strong and raw alternative country at its most spurs-and-buckles level. After all, Big Bender has a smoking skull in a cowboy hat as its mascot; they must mean business.



The collection is great, and Big Bender undoubtedly has some fantastic talent at their corral. The music flows among many different levels of country, from bluegrass, to almost rock sounding country, and even a dead ringer for Johnny Cash style is Spiv’s vocals on “Not Worth Repeatin”, What Seven Dead Roses Vol. 1 does is avoid all those gone-too-far-hokey country songs that are being pushed to the foreground today. No high-gloss, blonde girls and well manicured big hat cowboys play on any of the Seven Dead Roses tracks. What you do have is a lot of traditional sounds, that seemed to have progressed to current day, but with a somewhat edgier feel to them; i’s old country updated.



Enjoy the collection, or search out some of these artists on their website www.bigbender.net and find out what country should sound like. Hope the hangover gets better.



Elysian Fields – Ash Ganley & The Lyons Rock Council

It’s All About The Ride – Clint Clymer

Just Like Z’s Blues – Brendan McKinney and the 99 Brown Dogs

Arkansas River – Oakhurst

Burn It Down – Shitkickers

Not Worth Repeatin’ – Spiv

Believe – The Munks