China’s newest single “And Then Nothing Happened” has the classic markers of a good country song: the story-telling, the clever lines, and twang all up in their guitars. Vocalist Michael James Tapscott has more of a Jeff Tweedy style than a true country boy, but we like that. The title track off their new album has lines like: “I’m nothing without my baby/and there’s nothing for me after last call.” Good ol’ fashioned Americana values. Overall, their album has a gentle Tom Petty feeling to it (check out track “Crossing the Ohio”). It’s full of lovely harmonies and everytime that sexy pedal steel touches a song it’s a fine moment indeed. How to summarize the album? To steal a quote from the band, they “…are a bunch of beautiful losers caught in a freeze frame hovering somewhere between mundanity and epiphany.” Give these losers a listen here, see them tonight at Papermill Creek Saloon, and catch them locally when they’re back from their West Coast Tour. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor
