Soul on the Range

Most people don't realize that two tributaries of American music -- rhythm and blues, country and western -- are linked by more than geography. While, sadly, not the commercial force it once was, the R&B/C&W fusion is still with us: Elvis Costello's The Delivery Man is one example, and the Hacienda Brothers' work is another. The titular brothers are Chris Gaffney, one of roots-rock godfather Dave Alvin's Guilty Men and leader of the honky tonk/Tex-Mex combo Cold Hard Facts, and Dave Gonzales, of the blues-/rockabilly-charged, bar-blitzing Paladins. Their self-titled debut on Koch has been truly blessed by a music biz legend: Dan Penn, writer of classics like Aretha's "Do Right Woman" and the oft-covered "Dark End of the Street," produced ten of the platter's 14 tunes. These Brothers know by heart the common ground shared by George Jones and Ray Charles, that plaintive, palpable ache of loss and desire. And they proudly, deservedly tag their sound "Western soul."

The Hacienda Brothers'll get you in touch with your inner rhinestone soulman at 9 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at the Bamboo Room, 25 S. "J" St., Lake Worth. Tickets cost $15. Call 561-585-2583.