8. Tractor Trailer
“Disaster Flick”
from “4th of July”
Coby Carlucci–vocals, Mellotron
John Farias–guitar
Dave Pierog–drums
Brian Ristola–bass
Don Davis–flute
www.tractortrailermusic.com

Bar bands get a bad rap, but Tractor Trailer proudly wears the classification like a beery badge of honor, and with good reason. They call themselves “A dirty rotten bar band of the highest order. Hot tube amps, rocket-in-the-pocket rhythms, blue-eyed soul vocals, (and) high-octane rock and roll.” Indeed, they deftly jump from Stones-y or Memphis-style groove rockers to acoustic numbers, all the while managing to keep it soulful—due in no small part to their talented vocalist Coby Carlucci. Mix Elvis Costello, Van the Man and maybe a little of Squeeze’s Glen Tilbrook and you’ll be in Carlucci’s ballpark. Meanwhile, guitarists John Farias and Dave Lloyd’s muscular and tight interplay complement drummer Dave Pierog and bassist Geoff Talyor’s tandem rhythm section.

Carlucci and Farias made the rounds in local clubs for years, Farias with the alternative rock band Actual Size and Carlucci at open mikes and jams. Pierog is a coveted session player who has backed former members of Foreigner and King Crimson. Lloyd and Taylor  are also veterans of the regional touring circuit. The band members came together in New Hampshire the early aughts and slugged it out in the trenches playing every dive from Portsmouth to Plymouth in order to tighten their sound and earn money to record. In 2003 they turned out the dark Americana piece,“Texarkana” (under the name Coby Carlucci and Tractor Trailer), released on Newmarket’s Red Fez Records (www.redfezrecords.com). But with this year’s “4th of July” (also on Red Fez) the band has hit its stride. “Disaster Flick” epitomizes the band’s strengths, with a crunchy, two-guitar riff-attack over a lively, locked-in drum and bass intro before Carlucci’s big voice comes rumbling in.

Now based in the Boston area, Tractor Trailer spent most of the summer and early fall playing a string of dates throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine in support of the new album. Chances are you’ll find them tearing it up on a stage in a bar somewhere around New England this winter. They ain’t afraid of the trenches. They own the trenches.