Via extensive touring (from clubs to festivals), BTF has built reputation as a compelling, remarkably flexible live act, sharing stages with such diverse luminaries as Son Volt, Merle Haggard, James McMurtry, The Radiators, Alejandro Escovedo, Jackie Greene, The Mother Hips and Dan Bern—and gathering a hard-won fan-base along the way.
Through it all, BTF continued to spread the stylistic court, dipping into folk, pop, alt-country, Southern rock, R&B and rock’n’roll, all of which was imbued with Ed Anderson’s deft, seemingly-effortless lyrical gift for illuminating blue-collar miniatures with shock-of-recognition detail and a voice as comfortably worn as a favorite shirt.
The band’s uncommon growth and casual command of their material were underscored by their slinky third disc (2005’s Bar Room Semantics), which drew across-the-board critical acclaim while garnering glowing comparisons to Drive-By Truckers (Harp), Jeff Tweedy/Wilco (Cincinnati’s City Beat), the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown (Americana UK), Slobberbone, Neil Young and Gram Parsons (Dallas Observer), Violent Femmes (JamBase) and Jay Farrar/Uncle Tupelo (Illinois Times).