POP MUSIC REVIEW : Collie: Definitely a Mixed Breed

Mark Collie once explained his mixture of rock and country influences by referring to himself as “John Cougar Mellencash.”

During his 80-minute early set at the Crazy Horse Steak House on Monday, Collie drew not only from the classic rockabilly of Johnny Cash and the heartland rock associated with Mellencamp, but also from a variety of other rock, blues, and country sources. Perhaps Collie should call himself John Hank Lefty B.B. Elvis Cougar Mellencash.

The closer Collie edged to the primal roots of his music, the more electric his performance became. After delivering two of his recent catchy country-rock hits, “Born to Love You” and “She’s Never Coming Back,” Collie delved more deeply into pure country soul.

He raised the excitement level in the room with a trio of honky-tonk anthems, “Something with a Ring to It,” “Where There’s Smoke,” and “When the Sun Goes Down.” His crescendo of raw Memphis R & B passion peaked with his full-bore emotional rendition of his hit “Shame Shame Shame Shame,” which elicited cheers and screams from the crowd.

Building on his strengths, Collie paid tribute to Johnny Cash with a haunting reading of Cash’s hit “Ring of Fire,” drawn from Collie’s new “Unleashed” album. Collie further played his blues and country influences against each other with a blazing rendition of “Hillbilly Boy With the Rock ‘n’ Roll Blues,” a selection from his 1993 breakthrough album, “Mark Collie.”

His five-piece band, the Dogs, was able to follow Collie’s stylistic twists and turns with ease. The group’s two lead guitarists, Lance Dary and Brian Franklin, represented two sides of Collie’s musical persona: Dary stepped out for wailing blues-rock guitar solos, while Franklin shined on country leads. At the beginning of “Unleashed,” the pair locked frets in an exciting guitar duel.

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Throughout the show, Collie kept the emphasis on the music by confining his between-song patter to introductions directly related to each number. Collie’s brief discussions of his songs painted a vivid picture of the struggling songwriter’s lot in Nashville.

For example, when he introduced “Where There’s Smoke,” one of his favorites of the many songs he has written, he joked: “This song has started and stopped several careers. Jason Williams recorded it. Have you ever heard of him?” When nobody in the crowd responded, Collie said, “See.”

Collie’s only miscue came when he engaged the audience in a couple of distracting sing-alongs. Just as he had whipped the crowd into a peak of excitement with his sweaty, passionate delivery of “Shame Shame Shame Shame,” he turned the microphone to the audience. The crowd’s half-hearted response had the same effect as letting the air out of the tires of a speeding hot rod.

Similarly, after he had whipped the crowd up with his energetic performance of “Unleashed,” Collie embarrassed members of the audience by goading reluctant individuals to sing its chorus.

Collie’s 15-song set emphasized his two most recent albums, “Mark Collie” and “Unleashed.” Collie also included a few selections from his earlier albums that hewed closer to straight country: “Hardin County Line” and “Born and Raised in Black and White.”

After rocking the house with his hits, Collie changed the pace by encoring with a contemplative ballad he has not yet recorded.