Topless Opry

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Topless Opry at The Grill's Red Room, Tucson, March 2003.

Truly "The Honky-Tonk of Doom" in sound and style, Topless Opry is too country to die. Their timeless (if insane) sets belie the Opry's formation in 1999; they've played the downtown bar scene ever since, and record at world-famous Wavelab in downtown Tucson. Singer/guitarist Hank Topless revels in reptile-booted, over-the-top country singer fashion, leading a quartet of characters in twisted roadhouse tunes: "Snakes need love/Nobody wants them so they have to beg /Snakes need love/It's hard to run your baby down when you got no legs." More proof that hallucinogens must be in the local water.

NAME:

"Hank Topless."

OCCUPATION:

"Honky-tonk country blues."

QUOTE:

"The angels pulled my ankles through that dyin' door/
I hoped I wouldn't hear your bitchin' anymore/
Now that I'm gone you gossip about the meanest man in town/
Don't kick a dead man when he's down."

BAND:

"Topless Opry."

OTHER CO-CONSPIRATORS:

Hank: Vocals, guitars, songs. Chet: 5-string bass guitar, brewmaster. Dick: Fiddle, lap steel guitar, high lonesome. J. Shady: Drums, firearms.

LIFE STORY IN BRIEF:

"Country boy can't make sense of city life."

BORN IN:

"A barn."

HOW LONG IN TUCSON:

"Since way back in aught-six."

ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE TUCSON:

"Trouble."

WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN ON THE LOCAL SCENE:

"No comment."

CONNECTING POINTS:

"The band has opened shows for a number of touring acts, such as Split Lip Rayfield, Slobberbone, Marlee Macleod, Mack Stevens, and Calexico, and shared stages with local faves such as Greyhound Soul, Al Perry, Creosote, James Dead, Clovenhoof, Caliche Con Carne, Rodeo Queen, Troy Olsen, Degrees Plato And Teddy Morgan."

ARTIFACTS:

The 11-song album No Phoenix Blues (Y'Know Co.) is a twisted take on hardcore country music. More at www.toplessopry.com.

CONTACT:

Hank, hank@toplessopry.com