ESP Magazine - 12/25/02

By Grant Britt

Winston-Salem's My Cousin Walt blends Southern rock, country, punk and "whatever else we feel like" for a sound appropriate for the redneck paradise they have created for themselves and their fans. Redneck Paradise is also the theme and the title of the band's latest release, and the boys go to great lengths to promote Southern white trash culture.

Drummer Kevin Beroth lists a "55 gallon of Amoco Ultimate Grease" as his dream drum.  Mike Cobler confesses that he's a fan of roadside attractions that feature D.O.T. orange and lists Andy Taylor as his favorite guitarist, specifying that he means Andy Taylor from Mayberry, not Duran Duran.  Bassist Chris Myers thinks potted meat on Ritz crackers are a culinary delight and reveals that his dream bass is a 12 pound large mouth.  Lead guitarist Greg Bell lists Slim Whitman as his favorite guitarist and admits that his favorite food group is beer.

Selections from Paradise with titles like "Redneck Paradise", "Dixie Love Story", "Marked for Exit", and "78 Chevette" reveal that the boys are well versed in the blue-collar life.  The boys are also following a time-honored tradition of orneriness common among Southern bands.  The band named themselves in honor of drummer Beroth's cousin Walt, who apparently appointed himself as an advisor to the group.  At every opportunity, he would tell the drummer that in order to succeed, his band was going to have to play what the people want to hear.  In Walt's world, what the people wanted to hear was Marshall Tucker or those Skynyrd boys.  But Beroth, being of the aforementioned ornery persuasion, told his cousin that Skynyrd got where they did playing their own stuff, not somebody else's.  This cracked up the rest of the band when they heard about it, and to honor Beroth's relative, they named the band after him and go out of their way to make sure they do not play what people want to hear.

The band calls their music simply original rock, but cite an unusual combination of influences that make up their style.  Southern Culture on the Skids rubs elbows with Son-Volt and Social Distortion for a gathering that would probably end up in a fist-fight in real life.

And though the band lists guitar pop as an ingredient in their sound, you'd be hard pressed to find it.  The guitars in most MCW songs sound like they'd be more at home accompanying redneck speed metal than pop.  The closest this group gets to pop is when drummer Beroth and former Walt bassist Scott Southerland play in local power pop band Wafer Thin.

My Cousin Walt is in favor of all those Southern attributes that outsiders often find so offensive - drinkin', car racin' sorriness and general redneckness.  But what works for this band is that they aren't cute about it.  Their tongues might be firmly in cheek, but the presentation is more in your face punk than smirking smart ass rockers.