Set to a chicken-pickin’ melody that quickly finds a rock n’ roll-inspired groove to get in front of, “That Right There” from Russ Still and the Moonshiners isn’t the first fiery melodic country song to have caught my attention this autumn, but it’s one of the few to have been sourced from a purely independent source disinterested in blending in with his contemporaries. Country music, much like many other genres, is at an interesting crossroads in 2020, and even if you aren’t the biggest fan of its mainstream sound, Russ Still’s presentation as a singer/songwriter fronting an old school country band just might be enough to get you interested in the style’s future as it rests in the hands of non-major label players.
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There’s something really sweet about the cluster of bassline-driven beats beneath the chorus of this track, but without the slice of the strings and keys throughout the song, I think it would have sounded a little more rock-oriented than it does country. It’s obvious even from a distance that Russ Still and the Moonshiners can be as versatile as their own personal tastes in music are, and while they’re obviously more intrigued by the vintage American country songbook than they are any of the others to have influenced their sound, that isn’t preventing some electrifying facets from giving “That Right There” an added edge a lot of other singles in its genre will be missing this October. You can’t make it big without making big moves along the way, and here, Still is showing no hesitation in doing just that.
“That Right There” plows through its running time like it’s in a race, but when we cross the finish line, it doesn’t sound as though the band is suddenly losing steam. They’ve got some serious muscle with their melodies in this track, and whether they’re stacked with lyrical lashings from Still as fierce as they are communicative or simply presented through the kick of the Moonshiners’ play, this physicality is always at the heart of every evocative harmony and groove in the song. Anyone can rehearse themselves into fitting inside of a mainstream box, but to craft something that no one else is doing – yet sounds familiar enough to immediately attract a following – takes raw talent of a more exclusive variety.
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Russ Still and the Moonshiners aren’t asking a lot in exchange for the wealth of melodic charisma they unleash in their new single, but instead relying on the ways of the old guard with regards to sharing their gifts with most anyone who is willing to listen, and that’s why I think audiences would be foolish to dismiss “That Right There” as anything other than the diamond in the rough it truly is. I’ve been watching the shifting in aesthetical priorities within the previously insular country music realm based in Nashville for a few years now, but with the efforts of Still and his band on the table, it should be harder for the establishment to push purity-players in service of an ancient craft like these guys are out of the genre completely.
Loretta Kim