War Chief

The first thing many listeners will notice about War Chief's new six-song "Broken Heart" EP is that it's a really great sounding record — it's warm and immediate, and tasteful production choices abound. There's nothing trendy or of-the-moment going on here. The next thing that will become apparent (and which one might surmise from the title) is that this record isn't about the happiest of times.

Aside from the last track, "Broken Heart of a Mindless Machine," all of these songs were written with a full band in mind and were penned "after some life changes," said founder and primary songwriter Grayson Shelton. "And looking back now, I told people I wrote it more about a time and place and not necessarily a situation anymore."

Opener "Wine-Darkened Sea" starts off melancholy before progressing to a defiant chorus and an uplifting finish. It recalls some of the less jammy tracks by The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. "Paper Tigers" is a standout, an understated, propulsive rumination that finds Shelton sifting through the ashes. "Victorians" is a sturdy rocker featuring searing guest lead guitar from Stephen Neeper. The EP's centerpiece is the dramatic "Rewind (30 Pieces)," which builds on pounding piano and drums and gently strummed guitars, working up the tension to a cathartic release on the chorus.

Shelton started in 2011 as a solo singer/songwriter, and recorded his first EP with a group of session players. War Chief — winner of this year's Arkansas Times Best of Arkansas for best band — has gone through some lineup changes in the last few months, evolving to what is now a quintet with Shelton and Preston Whittenburg on guitars, Chris Brummett on drums, Blake Lefler on keyboards and Alexander Jones on bass.

The band's previous release, the full-length "Love Letters from Prester John," had several songs dating from Shelton's solo days, but the songs on the new EP were written with a full band in mind. "All six of these songs are really big songs," Shelton said. It's "an album that would be harder to play by yourself."

The full-band sound has also influenced Shelton's songwriting process itself. "When I sit down and write I think about how we're sounding now and what I can apply to that or what direction we want to go next," he said. Too, every musician has different influences and instincts, and will bring a different sound to the same song.

"I think the changes also add to the fact that we have a pretty broad selection of music," Shelton said. "We've got some songs that are really rock 'n' roll, we've got some songs that are more blues based and we've got some songs that are more Americana/country based."

War Chief has played several dates outside of Central Arkansas, including spots at Wakarusa, and will likely aim for a short tour in the fall, most likely southwest to Texas or to the northeast up to New York. "We've gotten this to the point where we need to make a push and now we have something that's push-able and we have the lineup that is willing to make the push," Shelton said. "So from that point we are going to try to do something. There is some interest and the guys are champing at the bit." - Arkansas Times

The first thing many listeners will notice about War Chief's new six-song "Broken Heart" EP is that it's a really great sounding record — it's warm and immediate, and tasteful production choices abound. There's nothing trendy or of-the-moment going on here. The next thing that will become apparent (and which one might surmise from the title) is that this record isn't about the happiest of times.

Aside from the last track, "Broken Heart of a Mindless Machine," all of these songs were written with a full band in mind and were penned "after some life changes," said founder and primary songwriter Grayson Shelton. "And looking back now, I told people I wrote it more about a time and place and not necessarily a situation anymore."

Opener "Wine-Darkened Sea" starts off melancholy before progressing to a defiant chorus and an uplifting finish. It recalls some of the less jammy tracks by The Chris Robinson Brotherhood. "Paper Tigers" is a standout, an understated, propulsive rumination that finds Shelton sifting through the ashes. "Victorians" is a sturdy rocker featuring searing guest lead guitar from Stephen Neeper. The EP's centerpiece is the dramatic "Rewind (30 Pieces)," which builds on pounding piano and drums and gently strummed guitars, working up the tension to a cathartic release on the chorus.

Shelton started in 2011 as a solo singer/songwriter, and recorded his first EP with a group of session players. War Chief — winner of this year's Arkansas Times Best of Arkansas for best band — has gone through some lineup changes in the last few months, evolving to what is now a quintet with Shelton and Preston Whittenburg on guitars, Chris Brummett on drums, Blake Lefler on keyboards and Alexander Jones on bass.

The band's previous release, the full-length "Love Letters from Prester John," had several songs dating from Shelton's solo days, but the songs on the new EP were written with a full band in mind. "All six of these songs are really big songs," Shelton said. It's "an album that would be harder to play by yourself."

The full-band sound has also influenced Shelton's songwriting process itself. "When I sit down and write I think about how we're sounding now and what I can apply to that or what direction we want to go next," he said. Too, every musician has different influences and instincts, and will bring a different sound to the same song.

"I think the changes also add to the fact that we have a pretty broad selection of music," Shelton said. "We've got some songs that are really rock 'n' roll, we've got some songs that are more blues based and we've got some songs that are more Americana/country based."

War Chief has played several dates outside of Central Arkansas, including spots at Wakarusa, and will likely aim for a short tour in the fall, most likely southwest to Texas or to the northeast up to New York. "We've gotten this to the point where we need to make a push and now we have something that's push-able and we have the lineup that is willing to make the push," Shelton said. "So from that point we are going to try to do something. There is some interest and the guys are champing at the bit." - Arkansas Times

Graceful — it’s one descriptor of the rock ’n’ roll of Little Rock band War Chief. Perhaps the word is an unlikely adjective. Can rock ’n’ roll music be graceful? The word sounds so weak. Too refined for the musical genre.

Well, one can try injecting a little grace into rock ’n’ roll. Only some bands get there and make it sound right. Others struggle, never succeeding. War Chief gets there. Effortlessly. Their music is tough and cool and taut. But also fragile and unhurried. And therein, in the middle of the band’s sound, lies War Chief’s grace, its elegance and refinement of movement. A sound that won’t be bottled or corrupted. Something fierce and independent yet complex and tame. Tuneful. Rock ’n’ roll. Jackhammering power chords and nimble-fingered, lingering leads. Powerhouse drumming and delightful keyboard textures. Thumping bass lines and howling yet soulful vocals.

During a break from a Tuesday evening rehearsal of a few songs from their just-released The Broken Heart EP, War Chief is gathered outside a Reservoir-area house. Grayson Shelton, lead singer, rhythm guitarist and chief songwriter of the quintet, mentions Wilco in conversation. That’s a graceful rock ’n’ roll band just as War Chief is a graceful rock ’n’ roll band. This is not to say the two bands are similar. They are. Yet they are unlike as well. Still, members of the band agree Wilco is one of those bands they enjoy. Spoon is another that Shelton mentions. There’s also some Drive-by Truckers in the outfit’s sound (hardly any modern, Southern-raised rock ’n’ roll band can escape that comparison), and one hears some Camper Van Beethoven, too.

“We’re kind of unique to this area,” says Shelton of the band’s sound. Not indie rock. Not country. Not rock. “We just play rock ’n’ roll. I don’t consider it modern rock. It’s so broad.”

What’s certain is the sound of today’s War Chief is different than what one hears on their previous two works: the War Chief EP in 2011 (released as a Shelton solo EP) and Love Letters from Prester John in June 2012. There hasn’t been a total reinvention of the band’s sound but a marked progression. This mostly has to do with the dynamics of the band. War Chief started as Shelton’s singer-songwriter project. Now, War Chief is a band — Shelton along with Preston Whittenburg on guitar, Blake Lefler on keyboards, Alexander Jones on bass and Chris Brummett on drums.

“What’s different is there are a lot more people on the album,” Shelton says of The Broken Heart EP. “It’s more a band-based album. A group effort. I’m real happy with this lineup right now. The songs sound more like they do in my head.

“As a whole, this is more of a rock ’n’ roll album as compared to what we’ve done in the past, which is a little more Americana or folk.”

Shelton, Whittenburg, Lefler and Brummett have been War Chief since October of last year. Jones, a bassist who played with The Tricks before they disbanded and now plays with Bombay Harambee, joined War Chief earlier this spring, following the departure of Jacob Sawrie, who played bass on The Broken Heart EP. “We jelled really well,” says Jones of his entrance into the band. “I have a good time with it.”

(Jones is the group’s sixth bass player, and Shelton jokes War Chief is the “Spinal Tap of bass players,” a reference to that parody band’s revolving door of drummers, although none of War Chief’s former bassists spontaneously combusted on stage.)

After moving to Little Rock from Jonesboro following his graduation from Arkansas State University, Shelton started playing solo acoustic shows around town. He played mostly covers but soon started writing his own music, discarding the bad tunes and holding onto the good ones. But there was one show at one unnamed bar that changed Shelton’s direction.

“It was a really slow night, and I didn’t have a very good time,” he says. “Tips weren’t that great. I was like, ‘If I’m going to do this and not make any tips, I might as well be in a band.’”

So the first incarnation of War Chief came into being. But the July 2013 War Chief is a different beast. “We come from a lot of musical backgrounds,” Lefler says, “so when you mix it together I don’t know what you would call it.”

Those individual influences are the building blocks of the band. Lefler calls his former band The Safe and Sounds “experimental.” Whittenburg started playing guitar because of ’90s alternative rock but matured as a player following an introduction to ’60s psychedelic rock and pop. His opinion of The Broken Heart EP? “It’s trippy,” Whittenburg says. “I like it. It’s way more ambient and psychedelic.”

One hears all this on the band’s “Rewind (30 Pieces),” one of six tracks on The Broken Heart EP, a recording engineered and produced by Mark Colbert at De Soto Recording in Little Rock. The song’s beginning is airy, with a simplistic drum beat and delicate keyboard. But slowly the tune forges ahead before igniting. Hard-charging rock ’n’ roll for sur - Sync Weekly

Graceful — it’s one descriptor of the rock ’n’ roll of Little Rock band War Chief. Perhaps the word is an unlikely adjective. Can rock ’n’ roll music be graceful? The word sounds so weak. Too refined for the musical genre.

Well, one can try injecting a little grace into rock ’n’ roll. Only some bands get there and make it sound right. Others struggle, never succeeding. War Chief gets there. Effortlessly. Their music is tough and cool and taut. But also fragile and unhurried. And therein, in the middle of the band’s sound, lies War Chief’s grace, its elegance and refinement of movement. A sound that won’t be bottled or corrupted. Something fierce and independent yet complex and tame. Tuneful. Rock ’n’ roll. Jackhammering power chords and nimble-fingered, lingering leads. Powerhouse drumming and delightful keyboard textures. Thumping bass lines and howling yet soulful vocals.

During a break from a Tuesday evening rehearsal of a few songs from their just-released The Broken Heart EP, War Chief is gathered outside a Reservoir-area house. Grayson Shelton, lead singer, rhythm guitarist and chief songwriter of the quintet, mentions Wilco in conversation. That’s a graceful rock ’n’ roll band just as War Chief is a graceful rock ’n’ roll band. This is not to say the two bands are similar. They are. Yet they are unlike as well. Still, members of the band agree Wilco is one of those bands they enjoy. Spoon is another that Shelton mentions. There’s also some Drive-by Truckers in the outfit’s sound (hardly any modern, Southern-raised rock ’n’ roll band can escape that comparison), and one hears some Camper Van Beethoven, too.

“We’re kind of unique to this area,” says Shelton of the band’s sound. Not indie rock. Not country. Not rock. “We just play rock ’n’ roll. I don’t consider it modern rock. It’s so broad.”

What’s certain is the sound of today’s War Chief is different than what one hears on their previous two works: the War Chief EP in 2011 (released as a Shelton solo EP) and Love Letters from Prester John in June 2012. There hasn’t been a total reinvention of the band’s sound but a marked progression. This mostly has to do with the dynamics of the band. War Chief started as Shelton’s singer-songwriter project. Now, War Chief is a band — Shelton along with Preston Whittenburg on guitar, Blake Lefler on keyboards, Alexander Jones on bass and Chris Brummett on drums.

“What’s different is there are a lot more people on the album,” Shelton says of The Broken Heart EP. “It’s more a band-based album. A group effort. I’m real happy with this lineup right now. The songs sound more like they do in my head.

“As a whole, this is more of a rock ’n’ roll album as compared to what we’ve done in the past, which is a little more Americana or folk.”

Shelton, Whittenburg, Lefler and Brummett have been War Chief since October of last year. Jones, a bassist who played with The Tricks before they disbanded and now plays with Bombay Harambee, joined War Chief earlier this spring, following the departure of Jacob Sawrie, who played bass on The Broken Heart EP. “We jelled really well,” says Jones of his entrance into the band. “I have a good time with it.”

(Jones is the group’s sixth bass player, and Shelton jokes War Chief is the “Spinal Tap of bass players,” a reference to that parody band’s revolving door of drummers, although none of War Chief’s former bassists spontaneously combusted on stage.)

After moving to Little Rock from Jonesboro following his graduation from Arkansas State University, Shelton started playing solo acoustic shows around town. He played mostly covers but soon started writing his own music, discarding the bad tunes and holding onto the good ones. But there was one show at one unnamed bar that changed Shelton’s direction.

“It was a really slow night, and I didn’t have a very good time,” he says. “Tips weren’t that great. I was like, ‘If I’m going to do this and not make any tips, I might as well be in a band.’”

So the first incarnation of War Chief came into being. But the July 2013 War Chief is a different beast. “We come from a lot of musical backgrounds,” Lefler says, “so when you mix it together I don’t know what you would call it.”

Those individual influences are the building blocks of the band. Lefler calls his former band The Safe and Sounds “experimental.” Whittenburg started playing guitar because of ’90s alternative rock but matured as a player following an introduction to ’60s psychedelic rock and pop. His opinion of The Broken Heart EP? “It’s trippy,” Whittenburg says. “I like it. It’s way more ambient and psychedelic.”

One hears all this on the band’s “Rewind (30 Pieces),” one of six tracks on The Broken Heart EP, a recording engineered and produced by Mark Colbert at De Soto Recording in Little Rock. The song’s beginning is airy, with a simplistic drum beat and delicate keyboard. But slowly the tune forges ahead before igniting. Hard-charging rock ’n’ roll for sur - Sync Weekly

War Chief won their way to the festival with a victory at a Wakarusa Winter Classic event. They proved why they deserved a spot on the bill. The Little Rock quartet borrows from the country rock styles of Stoney LaRue and The Old 97’s, with the focus on the fancy guitar work of Andy Stringfellow. - nwatunedin.com

"War Chief's soaring, roots-inspired anthems recently won the band a spot playing this year's Wakarusa Camping and Music Festival. Listening to the group's recent EP, it's easy to hear why. War Chief has as broad an appeal as any other rock act in Central Arkansas. Classic rock diehards will dig the Allman-esque guitar heroics on "Welcome to the Real World," while the rollicking "Stand Watie" could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with The Drive-By Truckers at their most solemnly intense." - Arkansas Times

"War Chief's soaring, roots-inspired anthems recently won the band a spot playing this year's Wakarusa Camping and Music Festival. Listening to the group's recent EP, it's easy to hear why. War Chief has as broad an appeal as any other rock act in Central Arkansas. Classic rock diehards will dig the Allman-esque guitar heroics on "Welcome to the Real World," while the rollicking "Stand Watie" could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with The Drive-By Truckers at their most solemnly intense." - Arkansas Times

"The judges' take on Round 3 winner War Chief Guest judges Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis: "Tight. Good harmonies. Would like to see them reach outside the box a little more. Nice indie rock. Mature." Epiphany: "Very polished, 'we should have our own light crew at Riverfest' type of music." Clay Fitzpatrick: "I think they played better together than any band I have seen in the Showcase. It was also the bass player's first show. I never would have guessed." Cheyenne Matthews: "Salud! Crisp, way tight stuff." Sammy Williams: "Ridiculously tight and extremely professional. Five words – 'Damn this band is good.' "" - Arkansas Times

"The judges' take on Round 3 winner War Chief Guest judges Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis: "Tight. Good harmonies. Would like to see them reach outside the box a little more. Nice indie rock. Mature." Epiphany: "Very polished, 'we should have our own light crew at Riverfest' type of music." Clay Fitzpatrick: "I think they played better together than any band I have seen in the Showcase. It was also the bass player's first show. I never would have guessed." Cheyenne Matthews: "Salud! Crisp, way tight stuff." Sammy Williams: "Ridiculously tight and extremely professional. Five words – 'Damn this band is good.' "" - Arkansas Times

"The judges' take on Round 3 winner War Chief Guest judges Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis: "Tight. Good harmonies. Would like to see them reach outside the box a little more. Nice indie rock. Mature." Epiphany: "Very polished, 'we should have our own light crew at Riverfest' type of music." Clay Fitzpatrick: "I think they played better together than any band I have seen in the Showcase. It was also the bass player's first show. I never would have guessed." Cheyenne Matthews: "Salud! Crisp, way tight stuff." Sammy Williams: "Ridiculously tight and extremely professional. Five words – 'Damn this band is good.' "" - Arkansas Times

"The judges' take on Round 3 winner War Chief Guest judges Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis: "Tight. Good harmonies. Would like to see them reach outside the box a little more. Nice indie rock. Mature." Epiphany: "Very polished, 'we should have our own light crew at Riverfest' type of music." Clay Fitzpatrick: "I think they played better together than any band I have seen in the Showcase. It was also the bass player's first show. I never would have guessed." Cheyenne Matthews: "Salud! Crisp, way tight stuff." Sammy Williams: "Ridiculously tight and extremely professional. Five words – 'Damn this band is good.' "" - Arkansas Times

"...War Chief's roots- and country-inspired modern rock was up next. The quartet had impressed the judges in the semifinals with their professionalism and radio-ready sound, and they kept that up Friday. According to Burnham, War Chief had "an uphill battle after Holy Shakes, but they are handling it extremely well." Bass was impressed by "super tight, gritty rock 'n' roll," with a "lead guitarist bordering on rock-star status. Great energy and melodies." Williams noted that he can't describe why he loves the Old 97s, "so I won't even try to describe why I love this band. Give this band a record deal ... NOW!"" - Arkansas Times

"...War Chief's roots- and country-inspired modern rock was up next. The quartet had impressed the judges in the semifinals with their professionalism and radio-ready sound, and they kept that up Friday. According to Burnham, War Chief had "an uphill battle after Holy Shakes, but they are handling it extremely well." Bass was impressed by "super tight, gritty rock 'n' roll," with a "lead guitarist bordering on rock-star status. Great energy and melodies." Williams noted that he can't describe why he loves the Old 97s, "so I won't even try to describe why I love this band. Give this band a record deal ... NOW!"" - Arkansas Times

Grayson Shelton supplies a slice of little-known but fascinating Civil War history with the lead-off track of his debut EP War Chief.

“Stand Watie” is a tale about the Cherokee chief and Confederate general who commanded American Indians on the side of the South in the Western Theater during the war, including Indian calvary during the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge. Shelton describes Watie at war as the “Cherokee war chief with blood in his eyes.” Two months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Watie “headed into Doaksville from the east of town” and surrendered his command in June 1865, becoming the last Confederate general to do so.

The latter half of the tune is a Civil War folk tale as Shelton details the fate of Confederate Gen. Joe Shelby, another calvary general who didn’t surrender, but passed into Mexico from Texas with his Iron Brigade, burying the brigade’s flag in the muddy Rio Grande. It’s a peculiar tidbit of Civil War history Shelton describes in “Stand Watie”: “Watched him place his flag into the water/Noticing he still had his saber by his side/Always undefeated/Forever on the run/You’ll never catch Joe Shelby as he tries to catch the sun.”

The loyalty of Watie and the defiance of Shelby have long been oddities in a war that is too often neatly summarized by broad sweeps. (Shelby later returned to the U.S. and became a marshal in Missouri.) Shelton doesn’t glorify either; he simply tells their stories. That he does so via rough-and-ready, genuine country rock with a catchy yet stomping shuffle of a beat makes the tune even more memorable and remarkable.

The other four tracks on War Chief don’t contain a history component to them, but what the remaining tunes do possess are more of Shelton and band’s Cracker-like rock ‘n’ roll, minus the sneer of David Lowery — Shelton does sound like Lowery at times though — but filled with blue-collar-rock guitar, rowdy rhythms and a freewheeling yet energetic feel.

Listening to the five tracks, one finds a number of influences beyond Cracker. There’s a little Rolling Stones and The Kinks (a band not afraid to tackle history in its songs), but mostly the tracks are a nod to modern rock ‘n’ roll bands: Wilco circa A.M. or Being There, or Blitzen Trapper, and a rockier side of the current Southern California indie folk band explosion led by outfits such as Chief, Delta Spirit and Dawes. But let’s just be honest: All influences and genres aside, Shelton’s War Chief is five tracks of American rock. Probably a little less dependent on the blues and more closely aligned with country and folk, but it’s still rock ‘n’ roll.

Shelton is a Little Rock-based singer/songwriter who has performed as a solo acoustic act at a number of venues around town over the years, including Cajun’s Wharf, Cregeen’s Irish Pub and Prost. But earlier this year, Shelton decided to focus on writing original music. He recruited a group of musician friends and recorded War Chief. The friends? A group of some of the area’s best musicians: Riverbilly vocalist and singer Travis Caudell on lead guitar; Free Micah bassist Ryker Horn on bass; North Little Rock musician Charles M. Barnes on keyboards; and drummer Mark Colbert, a musician who was in Little Rock band Trading Yesterday with former Evanescence keyboardist David Hodges and played some drums on Kelly Clarkson’s platinum-selling sophomore album Breakaway. Colbert engineered, recorded and mixed the EP at his De Soto Recording in downtown Little Rock.

If Shelton is Cracker’s Lowery, then Caudell is Cracker’s Johnny Hickman, layering a controlled guitar solo on “Stand Watie” for added sonic texture, and then unchaining his dirty rock side for a fierce run through the bridge of “Cross.” Barnes supplies atmospheric bar-room piano on “Cross” and provides an electrifying organ to “Welcome to the Real World (End),” a tune that begins as a straight-forward country rocker with Shelton spending his childhood daydreaming of being “the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise” before transforming into a rousing rocker that is a dream-crushing meditation on the grown-up world.

Despite its name, “Oranges & Blues” succeeds because it is more blues than orange, a marching rock anthem led by Colbert that includes Caudell punctuating the structured tune with a fiery yet short guitar solo.

And “Dizzy Beautiful” is a gem of a tune, storming rock ‘n’ roll that is darkly charming with Shelton displaying his strong singing vocals with calls of “I love it when you come alive.”

Shelton has since formed War Chief, his backing band of Andy Stringfellow on lead guitar and backup vocals, Robby Matthews on bass and Chris Brummett on drums, and the act will be out promoting the new EP in the coming months.

War Chief is too short for making any definitive predictions about the course of Shelton’s original music future, but the five tunes on War Chief are a brilliant, opening salvo of rock ‘n’ roll. The tunes are concise while still rollicki - Shea Stewart, Sync Weekly

Grayson Shelton supplies a slice of little-known but fascinating Civil War history with the lead-off track of his debut EP War Chief.

“Stand Watie” is a tale about the Cherokee chief and Confederate general who commanded American Indians on the side of the South in the Western Theater during the war, including Indian calvary during the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge. Shelton describes Watie at war as the “Cherokee war chief with blood in his eyes.” Two months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Watie “headed into Doaksville from the east of town” and surrendered his command in June 1865, becoming the last Confederate general to do so.

The latter half of the tune is a Civil War folk tale as Shelton details the fate of Confederate Gen. Joe Shelby, another calvary general who didn’t surrender, but passed into Mexico from Texas with his Iron Brigade, burying the brigade’s flag in the muddy Rio Grande. It’s a peculiar tidbit of Civil War history Shelton describes in “Stand Watie”: “Watched him place his flag into the water/Noticing he still had his saber by his side/Always undefeated/Forever on the run/You’ll never catch Joe Shelby as he tries to catch the sun.”

The loyalty of Watie and the defiance of Shelby have long been oddities in a war that is too often neatly summarized by broad sweeps. (Shelby later returned to the U.S. and became a marshal in Missouri.) Shelton doesn’t glorify either; he simply tells their stories. That he does so via rough-and-ready, genuine country rock with a catchy yet stomping shuffle of a beat makes the tune even more memorable and remarkable.

The other four tracks on War Chief don’t contain a history component to them, but what the remaining tunes do possess are more of Shelton and band’s Cracker-like rock ‘n’ roll, minus the sneer of David Lowery — Shelton does sound like Lowery at times though — but filled with blue-collar-rock guitar, rowdy rhythms and a freewheeling yet energetic feel.

Listening to the five tracks, one finds a number of influences beyond Cracker. There’s a little Rolling Stones and The Kinks (a band not afraid to tackle history in its songs), but mostly the tracks are a nod to modern rock ‘n’ roll bands: Wilco circa A.M. or Being There, or Blitzen Trapper, and a rockier side of the current Southern California indie folk band explosion led by outfits such as Chief, Delta Spirit and Dawes. But let’s just be honest: All influences and genres aside, Shelton’s War Chief is five tracks of American rock. Probably a little less dependent on the blues and more closely aligned with country and folk, but it’s still rock ‘n’ roll.

Shelton is a Little Rock-based singer/songwriter who has performed as a solo acoustic act at a number of venues around town over the years, including Cajun’s Wharf, Cregeen’s Irish Pub and Prost. But earlier this year, Shelton decided to focus on writing original music. He recruited a group of musician friends and recorded War Chief. The friends? A group of some of the area’s best musicians: Riverbilly vocalist and singer Travis Caudell on lead guitar; Free Micah bassist Ryker Horn on bass; North Little Rock musician Charles M. Barnes on keyboards; and drummer Mark Colbert, a musician who was in Little Rock band Trading Yesterday with former Evanescence keyboardist David Hodges and played some drums on Kelly Clarkson’s platinum-selling sophomore album Breakaway. Colbert engineered, recorded and mixed the EP at his De Soto Recording in downtown Little Rock.

If Shelton is Cracker’s Lowery, then Caudell is Cracker’s Johnny Hickman, layering a controlled guitar solo on “Stand Watie” for added sonic texture, and then unchaining his dirty rock side for a fierce run through the bridge of “Cross.” Barnes supplies atmospheric bar-room piano on “Cross” and provides an electrifying organ to “Welcome to the Real World (End),” a tune that begins as a straight-forward country rocker with Shelton spending his childhood daydreaming of being “the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise” before transforming into a rousing rocker that is a dream-crushing meditation on the grown-up world.

Despite its name, “Oranges & Blues” succeeds because it is more blues than orange, a marching rock anthem led by Colbert that includes Caudell punctuating the structured tune with a fiery yet short guitar solo.

And “Dizzy Beautiful” is a gem of a tune, storming rock ‘n’ roll that is darkly charming with Shelton displaying his strong singing vocals with calls of “I love it when you come alive.”

Shelton has since formed War Chief, his backing band of Andy Stringfellow on lead guitar and backup vocals, Robby Matthews on bass and Chris Brummett on drums, and the act will be out promoting the new EP in the coming months.

War Chief is too short for making any definitive predictions about the course of Shelton’s original music future, but the five tunes on War Chief are a brilliant, opening salvo of rock ‘n’ roll. The tunes are concise while still rollicki - Shea Stewart, Sync Weekly