Darkness on the Edge of Marin
April 15, 2005

It must be something in the imported mineral water. For more than four decades, Marin County has spawned some of rock music's most influential acts, including Santana, the Grateful Dead and Journey. Sammy Hagar makes his home north of the Gate, along with members of the Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Airplane, and Metallica. It's an elite group, rife with brilliant songwriters, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, and cultural icons. And today, Marin's great musical tradition continues with a dynamic local band called American Drag.

The guys in American Drag are not cross-dressers, although the name of their band might suggest otherwise. And if their rocking, heartfelt and socially conscious eponymous debut album is any indication of what's to come from this scrappy North Bay five-piece, then I suggest you catch their live show now, because they're about to rocket through the stratosphere. This time next year, they'll be playing arenas with Nickelback and taping episodes of MTV Cribs, and you'll be lucky to get an overpriced ticket from an eight-fingered scalper with unchecked scoliosis and a lazy eye. Yeah, these guys are that good.     

American Drag was formed from the ashes of a moderately successful Seattle band called Grace (which was fronted by Chris Cornell's brother). "I think we got caught up in the idea of creating a musical product for people to purchase, and we sort of lost the wonder part of it," says bass player Joe Shaughnessy, adding, " I've been to the sausage factory and I've seen how they make sausage. And it ain't pretty." (For the record, this is the first time I've seen processed pork used as a metaphor for disillusionment.) After Grace imploded, lead singer and songwriter Will Evankovich, whose cooler-than-cool vocal rasp falls somewhere between Live's Ed Kowalczyk and Stereophonics Kelly Jones (who has the best voice in rock), returned to the Bay Area and began writing all new material which would become American Drag. "During this period, which I refer to as the reconstruction, I was working full time as a high profile wine buyer. I was making a lot of money, but I was miserable. Sales is such a dirty business." In a rocking track from the new record appropriately called "Salesman," Evankovich sings:

Check your smile at St. Peters Gate / Sell him dirt from an empty grave / Damn all the dollars that make you the man / It doesn't mean shit at end of the plan

"As I started looking at my lyrics in their entirety, I realized I'd written a bunch of songs about being in jail, even though I've never been arrested. Every one of these songs is about being trapped and looking for a way out." On "Get Your Money's Worth," Evankovich pleads:  How do you expect to make it working for the machine / It breaks your back and drinks your name at the grip of someone else's dream

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