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Arts and Culture

The Truth About American Beer!

And it took Canadian country boy Kent McAlister to say it

Ron Coldham 10 Sep 2009TheTyee.ca

Ron Coldham has been a Vancouver-based music writer since before Nickelback moved to town.

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According to D-Listed, Kent McAlister isn't wearing pants in this picture

Kent McAlister needs to buy a gun and then shoot it in public. Or maybe he can just assault a hotel concierge with the lobby courtesy phone. A DUI might also work, particularly if he gets caught in a school zone during recess. Or there's always the option of a good, old-fashioned sex scandal, perhaps involving a couple of lightly drugged co-eds. That kind of thing usually piques people's interest.

The bottom line is whatever Kent McAlister is doing to get noticed these days, it's not working. These are different times, and simply touring your ass off back-and-forth across the nation while recording three albums of country rock genius isn't enough to turn heads anymore. The insatiable masses require a little dirt in their collective eye to make them blink.

But it appears McAlister won't travel such a sullied path. As his third release with the Iron Choir, How I'll Remain, gets set to hit the streets next week, Canada's unsung troubadour of twang is just going to keep on pluckin', as it were. There will be no chance of gimmick-laden promotions, gratuitous headlines or salacious scandals to help generate some much-deserved interest for the Calgary born-and-bred singer-songwriter's latest collection of 'spaghetti western meets Leonard Cohen' brilliance. McAlister foolishly chooses to let his abundant talent, unmatched stage presence and enduring work ethic do his talking for him.

Where does this guy think he is? 1973?

Before we paint him as the poster boy of artistic purity however, it should be noted that McAlister has made one slightly unorthodox (though still exceedingly understated) attempt to bring to the attention of the Kenny Chesney-distracted, Keith Urban-absorbed masses that which they should have noticed the first time around: the re-release of a fantastic single called "Memory Replacer". The title track off of his outstanding 2005 debut, the hook-filled "Memory Replacer" offers the metaphor of a hurtful lover as American beer:

You were like an American beer/You looked fine from the outside, my dear/But when I opened you up the trouble poured out/You left a bad taste in my mouth/Now I need a chaser/An image eraser/A memory replacer

And while it could be argued that any anti-American sentiment -- particularly in the country music realm -- is about as controversial as it gets, even the biggest flag-waver south of the 49th would never debate over which nation has the better beer.

So it would appear, even with the re-release of the "controversial" "Memory Replacer" on the forthcoming How I'll Remain, McAlister will continue to linger in undeserved obscurity until he comes to his senses and marries an Australian albino starlet or overdoses while backstage on Breakfast Television. But alas, some musicians appear destined to never quite understand that music is about more than great songs, memorable performances and hard work. And thank God for that.  [Tyee]

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