That probably says it well enough. But in case further explanation helps, we’re talking about that intersection where Chuck Berry rock and George Jones country converge. We’re talking about love songs that veer off the beaten path with honest slices of rural imagery and humor.

It’s a place on the musical map that’s entirely familiar but just a little too rowdy, a little too much fun (and in truth, too rooted in tradition) to be called mainstream country

If you’ve heard Summar’s 2000 debut album, the critically acclaimed Trent Summar & The New Row Mob, or seen his raucous live act in recent years, you may already be a staunch farm rock adherent.

If not, there’s a good chance you know Summar by his work anyway. As a songwriter, he’s had cuts recently on quite a few records, including Billy Currington’s popular sophomore album, Doin’ Something Right ("She Knows What to Do With a Saturday Night"), and Gary Allan’s 2003 release See If I Care ("Guys Like Me"). “Love You,” which Summar co-wrote with pal Jay Knowles, is currently on the charts as a single for Jack Ingram.

All this brings us to Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Summar’s latest recorded effort and his first with the Tex-centric independent label Palo Duro Records. It features several songs cut by other artists, including a take on “Love You” that will give fans of Ingram’s recording something new to chew on. “My daddy likes my version better!” Summar boasts.

Like the rural-Tennessee native’s earlier work, humorous tones run throughout this album. “I like a clever country song, and I don’t mean goofy songs … Of course, I’m the guy who wrote ‘Pink John Deere’,” Summar says of his ode to a female FFA honcho.

Most often, the jokes aren’t for the sake of themselves; humorous lines on the album have a way of revealing the sometimes-sordid realities of small town life and love. Like the opening line of “Never Really Loved Her Anyway”: “If there ain’t at least 10 beer cans in your front yard …”

While Summar’s sharp songwriting is a focal point of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, one cover will likely catch listeners’ attention. It’s a punched-up treatment of the classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Summar says, “It’ll probably make some people mad, some people smile. At least it gets a reaction.”

The entire batch of songs, it seems, was recorded with maximum reaction in mind; it is not a timid production. With veteran songwriter and producer Rand Bishop at the helm, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades lays it all out there: Summar’s vocal performances are full of life and a sense of fun, and a cast of top-flight players keeps the riffs coming. No question — the chops are purely big league all around. But Bishop, Summar and band keep Horseshoes & Hand Grenades from becoming a too-slicked-up affair.

Several Nashville luminaries shine on the album, including Raul Malo, who contributes harmony vocals on “Guys Like Me,” and Brooks & Dunn steel guitarist Gary Morse, whose tasty playing can be heard throughout.

The core group of players isn’t shabby, either. Ken McMahan is on guitar. “He’s the best smash-mouth guitar player I’ve ever heard,” says Summar. That’s saying something, considering that former Georgia Satellites hero Dan Baird is in the band, too (“He’s not bad,” Summar says in obvious understatement.). Dave Kennedy, formally of Walk the West and the lone holdover from Summar’s debut release, is on drums while Michael “Supe” Granda, a founding member of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and co-writer of two of the album’s tracks, plays bass and provides background vocals.

As good as the group is in the studio, Summar says it’s the live performance that reminds him how fortunate a front-man he is. “When I leave the stage after playing with these guys, I can be totally satisfied … It’s all I ever wanted to do.”

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades should propel Summar and his band toward a busy touring schedule in the coming months. His debut album (recorded with a different cast of musicians) certainly gave Summar the chance to get out on the road. While Music Row standards for record sales can be pretty outlandish, Trent Summar & The New Row Mob was by all reasonable accounts quite a success: It put him and his band on regular rotation on CMT. It got him a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. It led to tours of Europe and Japan — and Texas, where The New Row Mob’s sound earned Summar a fervent base of fans.

With the songwriting breakthroughs Summar has enjoyed since his first record, he is likely poised for even greater returns this time around. Regardless, Summar realizes that he’s managed to carve out a fairly enviable life in the Nashville scene — a healthy balance of songwriting and publishing, solo recording and performing.

And for Summar, there’s no notion of retreat. “I’m a lifer. This is what I’m going to do.”

BMI's Bradley Collins and Mark Mason, James Dean Hicks, Charlie Bauer, Tim Nichols, Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekly, Philip & Amber White, Chris Wallin and Craig Wiseman

The roster of talent who performed during the festival included BMI-Award winning tunesmiths Bart Allmand ("You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl"), Chuck Cannon ("American Soldier"), James Dean Hicks ("Jesus and Mama"), Chuck Jones ("Love a Little Stronger"), Jay Knowles ("She'll Leave You With a Smile"), Kendell Marvel ("Right Where I Need To Be"), Wendell Mobley ("I Melt"), Tim Nichols ("Live Like You Were Dying"), James Slater ("In My Daughter's Eyes"), Keith Stegall ("I Do Cherish You"), Phillip White ("I'm a Survivor") and D. Vincent Williams ("I'm Movin' On").

Patrick Davis and Jedd Hughes at Hog's Breath Saloon

Additional performers on the bill were Asylum Records artist Lee Brice, Patrick Davis ("This Life"), Dillon Dixon ("For a Lack of Better Words"), D-Tox, BNA Records artist Morgane Haynes, MCA Nashville artist Jedd Hughes, EMI Music Publishing writer Jamey Johnson, Key West songster Scott Kirby, Cory Mayo ("Break the Record"), Vicki McGehee ("When I Think About Cheatin'"), RCA Nashville artist John Pierce, Kylie Sackley ("Nothin' 'Bout Love Makes Sense"), DreamWorks Music writer Jen Schott, Dallas Davidson and Randy Houser ("Honky Tonk Badonkadonk").

D. Vincent Williams, Dillon Dixon and James Dean Hicks at Green Parrot

Other sponsors included Sheraton Suites Key West, the Conch House, Pirate Scooters, Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Nashville Underground, Hyatt Key West, Barcardi, Budweiser, Louie's Backyard, Kelly's, NSAI, American Airlines and ClearChannel.

Jen Schott performs at Southernmost Hotel & Resort	Kylie Sackley and Charlie Bauer

Chuck Cannon at Schooner Wharf	Wendell Mobley at the Hog's Breath Saloon Writers Room

Jamey Johnson, Kendell Marvel and Randy Houser at Schooner Wharf

Philip & Amber White perform on the Fury catamaran

Festival coordinator and MC Drew Reid, EMI's Tom Luteran, BMI's Perry Howard, Dallas Davidson

Chuck Jones and Keith Stegall at Pier House

James Slater and Tim Nichols at Schooner Wharf

photos by Alan Mayor and Brian Tipton

Bart Allmand	Chuck Cannon	Kerry Harvick

The roster of talent includes BMI-Award winning tunesmiths Bart Allmand ("You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl"), Chuck Cannon ("American Soldier"), Kerry Harvick ("Til' Nothing Comes Between Us"), James Dean Hicks ("Jesus and Mama"), Chuck Jones ("Love a Little Stronger"), Jay Knowles ("She'll Leave You With a Smile"), Kendell Marvel ("Right Where I Need To Be"), Wendell Mobley ("I Melt"), Tim Nichols ("Live Like You Were Dying"), James Slater ("In My Daughter's Eyes"), Jeffrey Steele ("Chrome"), Keith Stegall ("I Do Cherish You"), Phillip White ("I'm a Survivor") and D. Vincent Williams ("I'm Movin' On").

James Dean Hicks	Chuck Jones	Kendell Marvel

Additional performers on the bill include Asylum Records artist Lee Brice, Patrick Davis ("This Life"), Dillon Dixon ("For a Lack of Better Words"), BNA Records artist Morgane Haynes, Randy Houser ("Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"), MCA Nashville artist Jedd Hughes, EMI Music Publishing writer Jamey Johnson, Key West songster Scott Kirby, Vicky McGehee ("When I Think About Cheatin'"), RCA Nashville artist John Pierce, Kylie Sackley ("Nothin' 'Bout Love Makes Sense"), and Dreamworks Music writer Jen Schott.

Morgane Haynes	Lee Brice

Venues hosting performances are founding sponsor Hog's Breath Saloon, Schooner Wharf, Pier House Resort, Hilton Key West Resort, Virgilio's, Green Parrot, Blue Heaven, Fury, Southernmost Hotel & Resort, Ocean Key Resort and Mangoes. Hog's Breath Saloon General Manager Charlie Bauer serves as festival coordinator.

Wendell Mobley	Tim Nichols	James Slater

Jeffrey Steele	Keith Stegall	Phillip White

Additional sponsors include Sheraton Suites Key West, the Conch House, Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Nashville Underground, Hyatt Key West, Barcardi, Budweiser, Louie's Backyard, Kelly's, NSAI, American Airlines and ClearChannel. All shows are free to the public except the Friday and Saturday night shows in the Hog's Breath Writer's Room ($20 advance, $25 at the door). To reserve tickets, call (305) 296-4222.

D. Vincent Williams	Patrick Davis	Dillon Dixon

Randy Houser	Scott Kirby	Vicky McGehee
photo by PJ Pettigrew

Kylie Sackley	Jen Schott

]]> 2005-05-09T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234028 Artists, Gentry, Montgomery, Knowles, Jay, Musical Styles, Country Jay Knowles has earned a BMI Million-Air Award for his George Strait hit "She'll Leave You With A Smile." In 2003, the song won a BMI Country Award and was performed during the live broadcast of the 36th Annual CMA Awards.

Pictured are BMI's Bradley Collins and Jay Knowles. Photo by Brian Tipton

Knowles's other writing credits include "Self Made Man" (Montgomery Gentry), "There Goes The Boy" (Cyndi Thompson) and "Walter" (Charlie Robison). Based on an average length of three minutes, one million broadcast performances is the equivalent of 50,000 hours or 5.7 years of continuous airplay.]]> 2004-04-11T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/200032 Artists, Gentry, Montgomery, Knowles, Jay, LeDoux, Chris, Summar, Trent, Musical Styles, Country Jay Knowles and Odie Blackmon, and the 50th #1 for MCA superstar George Strait. The song, from Strait's The Road Less Traveled album, is published by Sony/ATV Tree and Big Yellow Dog Music and produced by Strait and Tony Brown. To mark the occasion, BMI Nashville hosted a breakfast for Knowles and the rest of the creative team. Among Knowles's other credits are the Montgomery Gentry single "Self Made Man" and cuts by Billy Ray Cyrus, Chris LeDoux, Cyndi Thomson and Trent Summar.

Celebrating at BMI Nashville are MCA Nashville's Pat Payne; Connie Woolsey of the Erv Woolsey Company, representing Strait; Big Yellow Dog Music's Carla Wallace; songwriters Jay Knowles and Odie Blackmon; Sony/ATV Tree's Woody Bomar; and BMI's Bradley Collins.

According to MCA Records, with this achievement by "She'll Leave You With A Smile," Strait sets a new record for #1 songs by a single artist in any genre, breaking Conway Twitty's long-standing tally of 49.

Jay Knowles and father John Knowles

Sony/ATV Tree's Arthur Buenahora, Trent Summar, Summar's manager John Leal, Sony/ATV Tree's Scott Johnson, BMI's Perry Howard

Jay Knowles and family celebrate his first #1

Big Yellow Dog's Kerry O'Neil, Sony/ATV's Woody Bomar, producer Tony Brown, BMI's Harry Warner

photos by Beth Gwinn ]]> 2003-02-09T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/200099 Artists, Knowles, Jay, New Row Mob, The, Summar, Trent, Musical Styles, Country Trent Summar and the New Row Mob celebrated their #1 Americana single "New Money" during a rooftop party and special performance hosted by VFR Records and BMI at BMI's Nashville offices. "New Money" was written by Summar and Jay Knowles, and is published by Songs of Spark and Sony/ATV Tree. Summar (formerly frontman for alt.country faves Hank Flamingo) contributed seven other compositions to the group's self-titled debut album.

Trent Summar and the New Row Mob perform

The New Row Mob includes guitarists Kenny Vaughan and Philip Wallace, bassist/harmony singer Jared Reynolds, drummer David Kennedy, and keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden.

BMI's Harry Warner, VFR Records' Harold Shedd, Trent Summar and BMI's Roger Sovine

For the latest news on Trent Summar and the New Row Mob, visit www.trentsummar.com.

photos by Kay Williams