Rock/Pop - Listening to The Bear, the latest from Western Massachusetts roots rockers Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, you realize pretty quickly that this is music that is ultimately and uniquely American. The rough-around-the-edges production, stories spun lyrically with honesty and grit, a style that could be bookended somewhere between the classic heartland rock of Mellencamp, Springsteen, The Band and Tom Petty on one end, Wilco, Jayhawks and Ryan Adams on the other. There's no shortage of dramatic pauses and anthemic elements but there is also an abundance of frayed folk/rock Americana in songs that have that rare ability to move you in every sense of the word. Playing nearly 1000 live shows since forming in 2003, Kellogg and band have honed their ragged but finely tuned performances into a impassioned display of loosely controlled power with songs that draw you closer and then kick you back.

New album was alternately recorded in New York with producer Tom Schick (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams) and at a house in Maine with Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter) and the songs reflect that geographical and psychological dichotomy, the teeming streets and rugged open spaces. "Most of the record was recorded in a room with us spilling all the guts we could muster into the mics," says Kellogg. "It wasn't always pretty but that's... well that's the bear." A self-described "definitive" album, The Bear showcases an artist and band at the peak of their considerable powers. Highly recommended.

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Photo: Megan Baker