“We don’t pull any punches about calling this Southern rock because that’s what it is,” says Blackberry Smoke frontman Charlie Starr. “It’s what we think new Southern rock should sound like.” Starr, guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Richard Turner and drummer Brit Turner are indeed sons of the South, but their considerable chops recall The Swanee River Boys and The Stanley Brothers as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers.

“We love all kinds of music – our CD collection in the van is extremely diverse,” Charlie continues. “You can hear a bluegrass influence on our harmonies. We all grew up listening to that kind of music, and I started singing in church, so I think a little gospel flavor filters through, too. We like to mix it up and take some chances.”

Still, discerning ears will detect a strain of Bon Scott in Charlie’s upper register. “Our music is probably harder driving than what you’d call classic Southern rock,” he concedes, “especially in the guitar and drum sounds.” In fact, this ain’t no gospel, this ain’t no bluegrass, this ain’t no fooling around: Blackberry Smoke is balls-out rock and roll.

The response of fans to the live performances on Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime, the band’s debut disc, is thrilling confirmation of that. Studio tracks “Testify” and “Sanctified Woman” may be attracting the most attention at rock radio, but these rough-and-ready versions of originals “Scare The Devil” and “Muscadine” and the standard “Freeborn Man” may better capture the essence of Blackberry Smoke.

“We recorded those during the motorcycle rally in Sturgis [South Dakota], at The Full Throttle Saloon,” Charlie informs. “We took an RV, parked it behind the stage and just lived there for a week. We opened for everyone who came through. It’s outdoors and the weather was beautiful. There’s no charge to get in and lots of booze flowing. What that audience sounded like – we couldn’t have asked for better live recordings. Technically, there are some warts, but the energy was so high that we didn’t care. We aren’t brain surgeons – it ain’t pretty sometimes, but it sure does feel good.”

Even when Charlie’s singing about hard times, there is joy in the music. You can’t help thinking that he, Paul, Richard and Brit were born to play together.

The road to Blackberry Smoke winds through Lanett, Alabama, where Charlie was raised, LaGrange, Georgia, where he met Paul, and Atlanta, longtime stomping grounds to brothers Richard and Brit. Growing up in Lanett, a textile mill town ringed by fields of corn, peas and butterbeans, Charlie began his training as a singer before he could talk. His mother’s uncle is Bluegrass Hall Of Famer Buford Abner, lead singer for the aforementioned Swanee River Boys; great uncle Merle Abner sang bass.

“My dad has played guitar and sung bluegrass my whole life,” Charlie adds. "I spent a lot of years going to bluegrass festivals. Every weekend we’d drive to Virginia or Kentucky. It was a fun thing to do. When I got to be a teenager, I said,