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Photo By Vivian Wang

In plain words, Tommy Stinson is a great American musician.

You can needle-drop at any juncture of the Minneapolis native’s four-decade-plus career and find a moment of great significance. Stinson was a founding and lifetime member of The Replacements. He was a key second-generation ingredient in Guns N’ Roses and served a seven-year tenure with Soul Asylum. He also led two essential bands of his own — the aptly named Bash & Pop and Perfect — appeared on recordings by the Old 97’s, MOTH and BT.

Stinson’s latest venture is called Cowboys in the Campfire — a duo with good pal Chip Roberts — and its debut album, WRONGER, is perhaps the most American album the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer has ever made.

WRONGER’s 10 tracks ride a giddy trail of twang and grit, melody and (mostly lyrical) mayhem. The very first song, “Here We Go Again,” sets the tone; Stinson on ukulele, singing about the ardors of creativity, while horns swell and there’s not a hint of percussion other than the perceptible tapping of feet by the musicians in the room. It’s stark and immediate, like sitting right in the middle of the maelstrom. From there we encounter a broad and passionate range of feels, from the rough ‘n’ tumble rockabilly of “That’s It” to “We Ain’t,” a shuffle straight out of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Stinson and Roberts take us from Nashville to Bakersfield on songs such as “Mr. Wrong” and “Fall Apart Together,” while “Schemes,” “Souls” and “Dream” are showcases of an ace pop songwriter. Read More