J Charles and the Trainrobbers

At the intersection where cowboy boots meet Converse, where twang ties into tough-minded rock riffs, and country collides with the power of punk, you’ll find J. Charles & The Trainrobbers. To refer to them as country-rockers would be to call up a false impression of laid-back Laurel Canyon dudes lost in a cloud of pot smoke. In fact, the Dallas-based band’s insistent, urgent sound thrives within the continuum of true American originals that includes everyone from Black Flag to Billy Joe Shaver, Tom Waits to Willie Nelson, without stopping to wonder about the stylistic borders between one and the other.