SOUND PRODUCER: One, two, check, check, hey!

HOST: They have the look.

They have the sound.

They have the songs.

From Warren, Pennsylvania, Company Townes.

(SINGING) Last one touch Yeah, tonight I know-- NARRATOR: The following program was produced in the Dr. Keiko Miwas Ross WPSU Production Studio in University Park, Pennsylvania.

HOST: Support for the Local Groove Presents comes from-- the Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education, and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

This is a song about driving to work.

Aw.

Oh.

[laughter] Someone got sad.

This was one of the first songs we wrote as a band because we were all driving to work.

Still are, too.

This one's called Two Lane Blacktop.

It's OK, we got good jobs.

["two lane blacktop" playing] (SIGNING) Time's on my side, so I ain't giving up Time's on my side, so I ain't giving up I'm going to try my hand at another run of bad luck All right, yee-hoo!

Driving east in the morning The sun shining in my eyes Feast in the morning, The sun shining in my eyes I gotta work all day, and I drive home late at night These voices in my head, they don't let me change There's nothing to turn off, so the radio plays The saddest songs are stuck here in my brain Gotta keep on rollin' with all that I got left And I ain't slowing down There's somewhere I ain't been So lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Two lane blacktop road, won't you carry me home?

Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road.

Better days are coming But I ain't seen one yet I know they're coming But I ain't seen one yet That's money down on another losin' bed So lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Two lane blacktop road, won't you carry me home?

Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Line, line, line, double yellow Line, line, line, double yellow Line, line, line, double yellow Line, line, line, double yellow Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Two lane blacktop road, won't you carry me home?

Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Yeah!

Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road Two lane blacktop road, won't you carry me home?

Lay on down, you two lane blacktop road [cheering, applause] Thank you.

This is a dancing song.

["snake boot"] (SINGING) Snake boot Snake fire Snake in a woodpile Jump up high Snake boot Snake fire lost in the night Don't tread too light Dirty old town Dirty old road Don't roll too fast Don't roll too slow Boots on the left Boots on the right There are boots in the crowd We're stayin' up all night [guitar interlude] Snake boot Snake fire Snake in the woodpile Jump up high Snake boot Snake fire Lost in the night Don't tread too light Fast as you soot and slide It ain't that hard Jump up high up Up all night Wait too long Tear it up Let them tear it down [guitar interlude] [cheering, applause] Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

And in our music, we take a lot of influence from the soundtracks of 1960s psychedelic spaghetti Western films, as you may have noticed.

And following that sound, we noticed we started writing some songs about outlaws.

And we followed the story of a few different outlaws on this next batch of songs we're going to play.

This first tune that I'm going to sing for you, it's about a man who is on the run.

He was captured.

Now he's standing on the gallows, rope around his neck.

He's staring out at a beautiful sunset, but imagining what awaits him in the afterlife.

So this song is called Fire Above, Fire Below.

["fire above, fire below"] (SINGING) Steady, hold your lights up now, get along Get along Nightmare takes the darkest near the dawn Get along I seen my days to Texas And they're driving me along 300 miles until I've sung my song Get along Get along The God of this country has moved on.

Get along And left knee to the fate that I have drawn Get along No more use in crying, babe Send my love to Ma Does she know where it all went wrong?

Get along Get along And it's all the brilliant colors of the sunset The way the red turns easy into gold These visions fill my head as night surrounds me Fire above, fire below Come on boys, the light's up Now get along Get along Startled from a dream of being young Get along Spring rains come and go.

Just like an old familiar friend The breeze upon my face The kiss of death Get along Get along The devil waits for me to take his side Get along He laughs himself to sleep most every night Get alone Nothing left to do, nothing but to die Watching on his evening takes the sky Get along Get along And it's all the brilliant colors of the sunset The way the red turns easy into gold These visions fill my head as night surrounds me Fire above, fire below And every free day riding in the sun Comes to me in time High above me, the angels call me on I, too, become the fading light [guitar interlude] And it's all the brilliant colors of the sunset The way the red turns easy into gold These visions fill my head as night surrounds me Fire above, fire below Fire above, fire below Fire above, fire below [applause] Thank you, folks.

How's everyone feeling here, pretty good?

AUDIENCE: All right.

Good.

Good job.

Thanks.

["on the run"] (SINGING) I followed the sun to a city by the sea I laid down my guns, and I washed my hands up clean The things I've done were catching up with me The taste of love no longer tasted sweet I found myself far outside of town Wondering just what I was to do now?

I watched the dust settle to the ground On the run Gotta track me down On the run No place to hide On the run High and dry On the run You're bound to die A pale moonlight sent shivers down my spine The long dark ride awoke demons in my mind The charms are too We're riding by my side High above Fire in the sky No place to hide High and dry You're bound to die On the run No place to hide On the run High and dry On the run You're bound to die No place to hide High and dry You're bound to die [applause] Never try to put a lady's hat on mid-song.

[laughter] I should practice that.

I was debating this all night, the hat.

It landed there.

Put it like that.

How's that?

[applause] ["dead of night"] This is a song about getting chased through the desert by death.

(SINGING) Shadow on the hillside from stories often told Half the day behind me on a pace I cannot hold Madness on the water A fever on the wind And even in the finest clothes, a fire on the skin She rides a horse of calico in robes of ivory white Finger tips pale as bone Touch the dead of night I know that when she finds me, my life is all but gone I'm trying to outrun her darkness I keep pushing on I race the road to ruin I hear her hollow cry She won't be long behind me now I'm unprepared to die I push my pony harder through muscles tight and sore Her misery, spare my hide for just one minute more She rides a horse of calico and robes of ivory white Fingertips pale as bone Touch the dead of night I know that when she finds me, my life is all but gone I'm trying to outrun her darkness I keep pushing on [guitar interlude] She will not spare the king She will not spare the pawn She will not bring you back again She'll only make you gone I feel her close behind me I've lost the will to fight My eyes grow wide as she passes by and spares my sorry life She rides a horse of calico and robes of ivory white Fingertips pale as bone Touch the dead of night I know that when she finds me, my life is all but gone I'm trying to outrun her darkness I keep pushing on [applause] All right, we got one more about the cane wolves.

["buffalo wolves"] (SINGING) Buffalo wolf and a Pawnee howl Two looks away mile after mile Buffalo wolf and a Pawnee cry Two looks awakened near a cloud passing by Silent never leaves across the plains Ever alert to the smallest change Swift like the breeze Roaming through the night Tracks on the ground Nose to the sky Buffalo wolf and Pawnee howl Two looks away mile after mile Buffalo wolf and Pawnee cry Two looks awakened near a cloud passing by [guitar interlude] Eagle circle high over grass stained red Buffalo wolf with a bounty on her head Fast on the run with a graceful stride Dead on the feet and a penny for the high Late in the evening with the sun sinking low Listen to the howl of the prairie winds blow Shadow on the hill in the pale moonlight [guitar interlude] Buffalo wolf and a Pawnee howl Two looks away mile after mile Buffalo wolf and a Pawnee cry Two looks awakened near a cloud passing by Buffalo wolf and Pawnee howl Two looks away mile after mile Buffalo wolf and Pawnee cry Two looks awakened near a cloud passing by HOST: Support for the Local Grove Presents comes from-- the Rockwell Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, supporting the arts, science, technology, and education, and a proud supporter of local programs on WPSU.

[applause] Thank you, folks, so much.