About Lefty
"When are you going to stop singing about genitals?"
- Lefty's mom"Lefty and his bandmates are muscular players. Songs like Big Nipples, Rollin’ and Hepatitis Blues move through the abs and delts of a riff-heavy country-rock tune with style."
- Fateema Sayani, The Ottawa Citizen"...like a Legion party band from the mid-seventies... one raised on Stompin' Tom and who may have a few Ramones 8-tracks in their Chevy Malibu."
- Boy Howdy, The Nerve Magazine"Turns Country into a four-letter word."
- Darryl Sterdan, Winnipeg Sun
Who: Lefty McRighty.
What: Old-time country music, sometimes with the band, sometimes solo. Topics include boobs, beer, beer spilled on boobs.
Where: check the listings.
When: see "Where"
Why: the fuck not?
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Lefty McRighty has been performing locally mostly, and on the road whenever someone’ll have him, for 4 years. His brand of music: irreverent old-time country and western. Sometimes he’s got a band, sometimes it’s a solo show, sometimes it’s somewhere in between. Lefty’s got a self-titled album under his belt, recorded in 2006 with the help of his good friends The Boxcar Cadavers, and will be releasing an e.p. in the not-too-distant future featuring new insta-classics such as There’s No Cold Beer in Hell, Blood Flows Quicker Than Gravy (about the great poutine war of ’55), and Where’s The Nearest Titty Bar.
Lefty's sometimes-backup band is made up of some of Ottawa's finest and most experienced country and punk rock veterans. On lead guitar is Lefty's father-in-law, Ray Harris (George Stryker & the Bandits, Mustang Ranch, The Willies, currently with the Sunbleached Skulls). On drums, the mighty Jeb Bond (The Restless Virgins, Screaming Bamboo, Evil Knievel, The Hooblers, Freudhammer, currently with Evil Farm Children). On bass is alt-country guru Mars Wilson (Confederate Jesus, The Buffalo Jumps, Dirty Devils, Ants in Your Pants).
About Lefty's debut album:
In 2006 Ottawa’s Lefty McRighty teamed up with friends The Boxcar Cadavers to record his independently released debut album. This recording captures the acoustically pure “let’s-tape-everything-in-the-same-room-at-the-same-time” honesty of early 1950’s rockabilly and country music, and balances this sound with the hard-hitting punk-rock energy of a Lefty McRighty live show.
The end product is a one-of-a-kind sound experience, inspired by the original cow-punks, Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two. Lefty brings a new level of energy to Cash’s concept of “beauty in simplicity”, adding a healthy dose of punk and metal, all the while staying true to the roots of old-time country and western recordings.
Highlights on this album include Lefty's big hit single Big Nipples, a 2-part murder ballad (Walk Away being the justification, I Love You in Pieces the aftermath), a delightful romp about STDs (Hepatitis Blues), and an exploration of sexual themes in the scriptures (Bible Wood.
Since its release, Lefty’s debut album has been:
- featured as Album of the Week (Nov 2) on Country Club, Radio Columbia 106.9fm, in Roselies, Belgium
- charting regularly in the top 30 at CKCU (Ottawa ON)
- charting regularly in Folk and Roots top 10 at CJSR (Edmonton AB) and CKXU (Lethbridge AB)
Go check out some samples of the entire album on the MUSIC page, and find a link to purchase the CD online, or where to find digital downloads, as well as a list of retailers carrying the damned thing on their shelves if your lazy ass feels like taking a walk down to the store.
Reviews
The real bastard sons of Johnny Cash!!!
Alain Joris
Radio Columbia, Roselies, Belgium
Really great album for real country music fans... and others!!! A incredible mix between Cash, songwriters from Texas and... punk. Don't miss it folks, it's only one of the best album of this year, and it comes from Canada!!!
The bastard love children of David Allen Coe
Boy Howdy
The Nerve Magazine, Vancouver
The bastard love children of David Allen Coe and heaped with the Johnny Cash/Merle Haggard/Waylon Jennings triple topping deluxe sundae mixture…this Ottawa band keeps it simple and actually recorded this album in the same room at the same time (who the fuck does that these days?) Approaching country/rockabilly from more of a Tennessee Two vs last call perspective. They sound like a Legion party band from the mid-seventies…one raised on Stompin' Tom and who may have a few Ramones 8-tracks in their Chevy Malibu. Standout tracks include Help Me See The Light and the Commander Cody-like Spare An Extra Liver!
Riff-heavy country-rock with style
Fateema Sayani
The Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa country trio's debut falls somewhere between the offerings of the alt-dot elite and those coming from the twangy tribesfolk. Lefty and his bandmates Reverend Boxcar Baloney Lonesome and Cassandra Cadaver are muscular players. Songs like Big Nipples, Rollin' and Hepatitis Blues move through the abs and delts of a riff-heavy country-rock tune with style. While their music penetrates the cool crust of nu-country, there are one too many genital jokes and musings on the trials of trying to get laid. Though you can't really knock the band for it; alt-country is way too heavy anyway.
A fine album
Andrew Carver
The Ottawa Sun
Some may sneer at at the inclusion of jokey tunes like Big Nipples, and grumble about "authenticity" and suchlike, but look at it this way: Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno, but Lefty might actually be a boob man. You can't get more authentic than that ...
Turns Country into a four-letter word
Darryl Sterdan
The Winnipeg Sun
From Chinga Chavin and Larry Pierce to Bird and MacDonald, country has always had its share of dirty dogs. Meet the newest member of the pack: Outrageous Ottawa cow-punk Lefty McRighty. Backed by his ragtag band of Boxcar Cadavers, the twangy troublemaker picks 'n grins hilarious fare like the lascivious two-stepper Train 69, the self-abuse lament Help Me See the Light, the Americana murder ballad I Love You In Pieces and the Dolly-sized one-two punch of Big Nipples. No, it ain't genius. But hey, whaddya expect from a guy called Lefty McRighty?
What people are saying
Stickin' Up For Country with Lefty McRighty
Fateema Sayani-NIGHTLIFE
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
Greg Harris likes to shape a show as much as he likes to croon. The front guy for Lefty McRighty and the Boxcar Cadavers always puts on a show with a theme. His September gig was a back-to-school mini-bash that gave pointers on country music. Topics like death and heartbreak in song were dealt with between sets.
For his band's show tomorrow, he's hoping to change people's attitudes about country music, taking inspiration from Lucky Ron and the Fiftymen, two acts that can draw like a gunslinger in chaps. Country Music Doesn't Suck After All, the name of the show, is for those with an open mind and a sense of humour. "The image of country music has been tarnished by the big production, pop-crossover, hair-and-makeup 'country' music of today," he says. "Many people don't realize country music wasn't always like this and automatically shy away from being exposed to it."
For the recalibration show, Harris plans a set of classics, original material and old country takes on some punk standards. It all goes down with a few chuckles -- the band's songs have eyeroller names like I Can't Get It Up (So I'll Have to Let You Down) and Can You Spare an Extra Liver? The newest track, expected on the band's first studio album due in spring, is called Bible Wood. Sample lyric: "I've got bible wood from readin' the good book like a good boy should. /It can't be bad/'cuz it feels oh so good/I've got a mean ol' case of that bible wood."
Don't let anyone tell you that country music is just for your parents.
Classic Country
Allan Wigney
The Ottawa Sun
June 21st, 2006
...The hard-working Greg Harris, a.k.a. Lefty McRighty, intends to stick around for a while too. Even if, as Harris admits, he and his Boxcar Cadavers "don't really fit in anywhere." Oh, they're not the only band tackling the sort of classic country heard on their self-titled debut CD. Nor are they the only band to throw some alt into their country.
But original songs like Big Nipples, Spare an Extra Liver and I Love You in Pieces make it clear this country band is more Roger Miller than Buddy Miller. “No one seems to be doing quite what we're doing," Harris says, conceding that a fondness for silly songs can occasionally be a liability in the oh-so-serious indie music world. "It's the risk we had to take," Harris says of staying true to his Homer and Jethro roots. "This is the kind of music we've been writing since Day One. I've toyed with the idea of writing more serious songs, but I don't want to."