Jason Scott & The High Heat

Heartland anthems like "Bernadette" and "Golden" are laced with all the ringing guitars and larger-than-life hooks of Tom Petty's best work, while "High Country" crystallizes the genre-spanning High Heat sound that's so unique, even the bandmates themselves have trouble describing it. "I call it 'disco country,'" says guitarist/keyboardist Garrison Brown. "I call it 'cowboy gone to the beach,'" argues drummer Bobby Wade. Whatever you call it, that signature sound belongs to Jason Scott and the High Heat, and it's never sounded more eclectic or electric than it does on American Grin. American Grin, the follow-up to Jason Scott and the High Heat's acclaimed debut, is a soundtrack for road trips across the American desert with the radio cranked high, the FM dial caught halfway between the country and rock & roll stations, the sounds from both channels bleeding together into some new frequency. It's the band's own version of amplified American roots music, as wide-ranging as the country that inspired it. For a band of multi-faceted musicians capable of handling their own photography, video creation, songwriting, and styling with little outside help, American Grin feels like an appropriate showcase of creativity and cheeky charm. Here, they're stepping back into the light, bringing along a batch of songs that don't honor the roots-rock tradition as much as reshape it entirely.