From The Desk Of The Jescos’ James Jackson Toth And Timothy Bracy: Tim McGraw

Given MAGNET’s detailed coverage of the end of the Mendoza Line—a beloved, ragtag countrypolitan bar band that went up in flames in 2007—it only seems fitting that we have plenty of access to the formation of the Jescos, the new group featuring the Mendoza Line’s Timothy Bracy and Wooden Wand’s James Jackson Toth, as well as Bracy’s wife, singer Elizabeth Nelson. Bracy has found his rambling pub-rock foil in Toth on the forthcoming Remembrance Of Things Trashed, a debut album that guts it out for rock ‘n’ roll glory. Read our Q&A with Toth and Bracy.

James Jackson Toth: One of my generation’s finest interpreters of song, and not a bad actor, either. Something like nü-country’s answer to Neil Young, Tim McGraw walks to the beat of his own drummer and doesn’t seem to worry much about alienating potential fans. An outspoken Democrat, McGraw had a hit song on country radio about a woman’s right to choose: “Red Ragtop,” which is also one of my favorite songs. That’s pretty badass. He chooses great material (he covered Ryan Adams’ best song, “When The Stars Go Blue,” and made it his own), and his reads are frequently sentimental and earnest without ever resorting to self parody. I’ve practically worn out his greatest-hits CDs. I enjoy his music immensely. McGraw’s video for “When The Stars Go Blue” after the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohklQempd8