Blah country from Russia

It borders on the miraculous that a bunch of Russian kids could fall in love with American country music, find a teacher to help them become crack country and bluegrass musicians, and then get to Nashville and land a major-label deal.

How sad, then, that once here, the members of Bering Strait couldn’t find their way to Johnny Cash’s house. Or Merle Haggard’s, Guy Clark’s, Lucinda Williams’ or Steve Earle’s -- to any first-rate songwriter who might have provided them songs that would have made their extraordinary journey more worth it.

The best things about the group’s 50-minute show Tuesday at the Roxy were the infectious giddiness the six musicians exuded and a few songs that proved that sometimes the East-West twain do meet.

Those included “Porushka-Paranya” from the just-released debut album, “Bering Strait,” and their Grammy-nominated instrumental, “Bearing Straight.”

But too often on the album, Bering Strait sounds just like a typical American country-rock band: an accomplishment on some level, but not much of a compliment given the typically trite songs these earnest and deserving would-be cowpokes have been saddled with.