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If their name sounds familiar then yes -- they confess it -- they borrowed it from the title of a Merle Haggard tune. The Running Kind has been playing their particular brand of traditional country rock music, as a full band, just over two years now; however, their roots go back much further. Leslie and Matt Bosson have been singing together almost as long as they've been married. (And let’s just say they’ve been married for some time now.) Early on, the Bossons began occasionally appearing in people's living rooms, perhaps during extended family gatherings, or basically for anybody that they could make sit and listen to them. Pleased with the sound of their harmonizing, Matt started to write more original music and, at the same time, they began learning and singing great classics by the likes of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Gram Parsons, Hank Williams, etc. Eventually, various musicians around town would get together in practice rooms in Hollywood or Burbank, to jam with the Bossons and to hear Leslie’s powerful voice give new weight to classics like Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough†or to hear their version of Johnny & June’s “Jackson.†Playing a mix of Matt’s acoustic country rock songs and mostly obscure country classics, Matt and Leslie slowly created the sound of The Running Kind. At first, the Bossons practiced regularly with “Darlin†Jim D’Damery, who played great bluesy electric guitar and was fast becoming a bluegrass barnstormer on the Dobro. It should be noted, Jim also had an uncanny ability to channel Merle Haggard when singing “Swinging Doorsâ€. The early band also included bassist Rick Alonso and drummer Jeff Breitman (who had played with Matt previously in their country-tinged pop/punk band, Lonesome Pie). Soon, the Prof. Dave “Moonshine†Lustig came inside from his wine vineyards to take over duties on bass guitar. The Bossons were quite impressed by Dave’s fine bass playing as well as his 2004 Zinfandel. Sadly, about six months later, “Darlin†Jim needed to make an exit, as his professional life in the “Business†of Hollywood made it increasingly difficult for him to fly in from location for band practice and gigs. Luckily, that’s when the band crossed paths with the musical freight train of lead guitarist, George Alexander. Capable of playing like James Burton or Jimi Hendrix, and all points between, Mr. Alexander brought to the band a melodic rocking counterpoint to the soaring vocal harmonies of Leslie and Matt Bosson. With the lead guitarist in place, The Running Kind began playing regularly at Viva Cantina in Burbank and elsewhere. In August of 2005, they made an appearance at the Ronnie Mack Barndance at El Cid in Los Angeles, at which they received a great response from the audience and it was generally a huge moral boost for the band. In the Fall of 2005, The Running Kind finished their first record, a seven-song disk, entitled “Very Far.†They recorded and mixed with the ever talented and affable Eric Arm of Headroom Audio in West Hollywood, and were fortunate to be able to enlist the talents of John McDuffie on pedal steel and Dobro. The record features four Bosson originals, which have a timeless country rock appeal; as well as three covers, including a Delmore Brothers Depression-Era classic on which the Bossons sing a beautifully dark harmony, and two lesser-known but just-as-good Patsy Cline honky-tonk numbers that give Leslie a chance to stretch out her “big†voice, a bit. There’s plenty of great pickin’ and singin’ throughout. So if you like Traditional Country Rock music, made by local LA folks with day jobs and a healthy love for really good music – check out The Running Kind and their disk, “Very Far.†For more info about The Running Kind, go to: www.therunningkind.net or www.myspace.com/therunningkind Check out the artist's website: http://www.therunningkind.net Track List: 1. He Could Fly Away 2. Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar 3. Good Ol' Boy 4. Very Far 5. Two Roads 6. I Love You Honey 7. For Rent Other Genres:
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