The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 27

Mtj The Leader-Post Regina Monday, June 28, 1993 C7 Social buccaneers Pirates Of The Mississippi not serious band despite contentious song about unemployed preview Pirates Of The Mississippi 8 m. Tuesday, Moose Jaw Wild Animal Park $19.95 Opening act: The Johner Brothers) By BERNARD PILON L-P Entertainment Writer The Pirates Of The Mississippi stirred up some political hornets nests with a recent song. But that doesnt mean they want to become the McLaughlin Group of southern rock. Were not a serious band, steel player Pat Severs says. Wed like to think of ourselves as a North American party band, redneck roll roll and honky-tonk blues.

We just wanted to address the issues. But when the band addressed the issue of homelessness and job loss last summer with the song A Street Man Named Desire, they hit some political nerves. It was crazy, Severs says. Shortly after the song was released, we got a call from the (Bill) Clinton campaign, asking us to endorse their candidate. I said weve got five guys with different points of view, some for Clinton, some for (George) Bush and (H.

Ross) Perot. The Democrats werent impressed. Neither were the Republicans. The song drew fire from a prominent Republican, who objected to the songs storyline, about an assembly plant worker reduced to begging alter his company moves to Mexico. The Republicans are strong proponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which some people say will export American jobs to Mexico.

Severs says a radio station in a large, urban, northern market had been playing A Street Man Named Desire in heavy rotation. They got a call from a major advertiser, who said he was a close personal friend of Bush, and told them to quit playing the record, he says. The song, written by Pirates Rich Alves and Bill McCorvey and Nashville songwriter Gary Harrison, has since sparked a crusade against what Severs calls the national scandal of massive unemployment. The Pirates of the Mississippi are so serious about the issue that their manager, Ken Stilts, has turned his splashy Christmas parties into drives to help feed and clothe Nashvilles poor. The band itself is also heavily involved with the National Coalition for the Homeless pretty serious stuff for a quintet of country rockers once known solely for their good time shows.

In fact, Street Man began as a personal project by Alves. His brother, the president and CEO of a major corporation, was jobless for over a year after his company moved away. That opened the Pirates eyes to a previously unknown hardship. Lots of times on the road, wed go to autograph parties hosted by radio stations, Severs recalls. A lot of people would say theyd like to come to the show, but couldnt afford it because the plant had closed.

We started hearing that a lot. And it wasnt stuff we were hearing on CNN or the nightly news. The controversy wasn't the Pirates' first. The song Feed Jake a number Severs describes as about the universal appeal of love for dogs was blacklisted from several stations because it mentions gays. To Severs, both songs show why he, guitarist Alves, lead vocalist McCorvey, bass player Dean Townson and drummer Jimmy Lowe are consistently more popular in more than 200 live shows per year than in record stores.

Their 1990 release. Pirates Of The Mississippi. sold almost 500.000 copies, as did 1991's Walk The Plank. A Street Man Named Desire has lagged, selling just 30,000 copies. Despite the serious subject matter of Street Man and the subsequent waves, the band doesn't want to become a political act I dont think we ever started out to do that, Severs says.

Reba says country songs attract former rock fans pivujr other pop artists now compete for much of the same audience. I think what has really gotten the people in my age group, who listened to the music that I listened to in the 70s Eagles, Three Dog Night, Chicago thats pretty much what a lot of country music is today. Its the easy-listening rock music. So the fans of that era have come over to the country music side. With their widening audience and the increased variety of music, McEntire sometimes hears that shes forgotten her country roots.

Its an accusation often thrown at others in the large new wave of female country stars and at male stars like Garth Brooks, Billy Ray Cyrus and Vince Gill (with whom McEntire duets on the hit The Heart Wont Lie). McEntire even says there might be some truth to it, but she doesnt apologize. She says country artists are growing along with country music. A lot of people have said that Ive gone rock roll. Ive gone contemporary, Ive gotten away from my traditional roots, reflected McEntire, whose recordings have roamed to Aretha Franklins soul classic Respect and the torch song Sunday Kind of Love.

And maybe they're right. I don't know. I dont gauge music by categorizing it. I like good music. I want to sing the best songs I can find.

By DAN SEWELL JUPITER FARMS, Fla. CAP) Country music is the fastest growing form in the U.S. and Reba McEntire says its because country draws the audience that used to listen to pop and rock in the 70s. I'd say 50 per cent of my audiences today didnt listen to country music two years ago, says McEntire. Or if they did, they didn't listen much.

Sophisticated stage shows and music that tells current stories have helped give country music a hipness, and relatability. McEntire, whose latest album. It's Your Call, quickly made the country charts and overall music charts, noted that country, rock and Reba McEntire.