Si Robertson is no stranger to obscurity. After toiling for years as the chief reed-maker of his brother’s fledgling duck hunting business, he found breakout success with a role in the A&E series Duck Dynasty. But in his family media collective’s past few projects he’s been content to let the spotlight shine on other members, contributing vocals to groovy instant classic Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas and providing silent harmonies to his brother Phil’s experimental homophobiacore. For so long, he’s remained the steady Jonny Greenwood to Phil’s frenetic Thom Yorke. But now, Robertson is ready to embrace the limelight.
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In Me And My Smokin Hot Honey, his debut EP as indie side project “Si Robertson,” Robertson shows that he’s more than just a man best known for his TV catchphrase, “Hey.” Stalwart indie music blog FOX411 dropped the news of the band’s ballsy decision to skip SoundCloud and release the six-song album directly to the iTunes Store. Apparently, Robertson also debuted it in the most adorable way—by playing it at his own wedding vow renewal ceremony. I am literally crying thinking about it. In a business obsessed with timeliness, it’s refreshing to see an artist taking his time to make music before selling it. These songs are authentic and real.
The question is whether the early buzz will translate to long-term marketability: Is there a market for a country album made by a member of Duck Dynasty? Time will tell, although a grassroots effort shot the indie album up to 58th place on the iTunes top country albums chart shortly after its release. Maybe indie music is the next step for a family whose unabashed iconoclasm peppers its avant-garde art and media projects, which include a cookbook, branded throw pillows, extensive DVD back catalog, and $17.99 Duck Dynasty Hugger, available at local clothing pop-up boutique Walmart. On Smokin Hot Honey, the Louisiana-based Robertson and his bandmates fuse their songs with gritty realness, eschewing the usual country platitudes and turning familiar jangly melodies into something approaching transcendence.
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Check out our track-by-track guide below.
Track 1: “Can’t Take the Swamp Outta the Man”
First impressions are everything for a band just entering the hype machine, and as the guitar kicks in with descending power chords and then the other guitar layers some hot country licks right on over it, we know we’re in for a thrill ride that says “no” to genre boundaries and “yes” to thoughtful alt-patriotism. Kix Brooks (late of indie country darlings Brooks & Dunn) plays hype man here, recalling our idyllic American childhood of sweet tea and alligator feasts in a swamp. The tension builds; where can all this lead? Robertson finally arrives, deftly reversing Brooks’ observation that “You can take the boy out of the swamp” with the warbling certainty, “But you can’t take the swamp outta the man.” “‘Cause that’s my land,” he growls, distilling centuries of land ownership disputes, treaties, segregation, Second Amendment rights, and gentrification into a single phrase with a universal meaning. The feel of the whole is epic.
Track 2: “How Much I Love You”
Robertson seems to be going for an indie collective vibe here, rounding out his own talents with contributions from the burgeoning scene he oversees. Here, lead vocals are handled by slow-burner Jessica Andrews, the Feist of Robertson’s Broken Social Scene. Andrews’s drowsy lilt fits right in with instrumentation so crisp it sounds like it came with the keyboard. A classic indie slow jam, undoubtedly the one the band would perform live on The O.C. if that show’s light hadn’t burned out like this band’s torch never will. A Bic-in-the-air earworm with vaguely sinister lyrics like, “We made a promise to the very end / And I would do it all over again” and soaring stringed instruments of all sorts, this song will melt your jaded heart.
Track 3: “Would You Marry Me Again”
Anxiety is a fertile source of emotion for many bands. Confusion, ennui, and paranoia—about love, about expectations, about being human—have long helped a wide variety of bands examine life in a world of unknowns through the lens of music. “Would You Marry Me Again” is no different, as Marsha Kay Robertson (Si’s sister-in-law) and Jay Nelson (some bro) duet about the ongoing existential crisis of marriage. In the typical fashion of the disaffected, the two yearn for each other’s love on selfish terms. As they echo the traditional pain of their country forebears in lines like “Would you marry me again? / Are you still my best friend? / After all we’ve been through / Would you still say I do?” we can imagine them staring at each other through a window that turns out to be to two mirrors, so they’re left singing to themselves as the world crumbles away. The indie country answer to “Drunk in Love”—bleak and beautiful.
Track 4: “His and Hers”
I don’t know the real names of the gals in Haim, so I’m going to assume they’re Ally Moore, Macy Jae, and Kolby Koloff, the trio behind “His and Hers.” So this song is Haim at their most backwoods soulful. The downbeat acoustic guitar that opens the song is quickly superseded by a hookless keyboard line, reminding the listener that melody, like love, is fleeting. It also dawns on us that this isn’t just any ordinary EP—this is a concept album about marriage. Sweeping and told from multiple perspectives, it’s a swampy, operatic epic, examining the meaning of the union between man and woman (is there any other kind, in the eyes of God?) in various salvos of monotone twang. This song takes the viewpoint of three young women already awash in world-weariness (Chorus: “We’re all daughters and we’re all sons / But in the end we’re just looking out for number one”). A hidden gem from guest stars Haim.
Track 5: “Faith, Hope, and Love”
By this point, the Si and friends collab is seeming less Outkast and more St. Lunatics—we know which guy we’re here for, and he ain’t the one singing. Si Robertson is nowhere to be found on traditional number sung by Zach Harris, which trades the hot Americana licks for bucolic acoustic guitar and violin-sounding violin. Harris subverts the listener’s lovelorn expectations by channeling his inner Van Gogh on the opening line, singing, “If I could paint you a picture / I’d paint you running into my arms / The way I’d hold you forever / And not cause you any harm.” This is the point where on a lesser indie album, you’d start to wonder if you’re getting your money’s worth; here, money is ephemeral and worthless because how can you put a price on truth? (Album retails for $5.99.) Harris finally voices the thesis of the concept album: “Faith, hope, and love are some great things / And you give me every one / Nobody else understands me / It’s like you’re my God-sent woman.” And have we talked about the EP’s choruses yet? They all sound exactly the same—overflowing with emotion. That’s key if you’re a new band that needs to establish your distinctive sound.
Track 6: “If You Can’t Dig That”
Having cultivated an air of mystery that can only be described as Prince-like, Si Robertson returns for the enigmatic, barn-burning album closer. He partners with the Mauldin Brothers, best known for deliberately obtuse, lushly layered songs like “The F Word” (spoiler alert: it’s “friend”). All drums and harmonica, the song is a series of nimble jabs at the hipster youth who populate rural areas; among their worst sins are mounting the heads of animals they haven’t shot on their walls, improper tailgating, and not wearing coveralls. Smokin Hot Honey’s final stomp shows off Robertson’s angry side, one we haven’t yet seen in his other song; his depth here bodes well for future releases. “If you can’t dig that,” Robertson sings, “Your shovel must be broke.” It’s hard not to agree with him.Devin Schiff's catchphrase is also "Hey." He's on Twitter - @devinschiff
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