Loop de loop, upside down in reverse, just so we can make another turn for the worse.

 Aw, man, the Bottle Rockets broke up. I just learned this today, but back on March 2nd, frontman Brian Henneman announced he was retiring after nearly 40 years on the road. I honestly didn't realize he'd been in the game that long, but we're all getting old.

 I'll come back around to the Rockets in a minute, but let's get the News out of the way. Monday we looked at the push to make Washington, D.C., a state as well as the push against it, including the whys and wherefores of both. For the record, I'm in favor and see no reasonable, logical argument against it. Wednesday was about the second mass shooting in two weeks. There was another shooting last night but I'll deal with that in tomorrow's wrap-up. Back to normal, I suppose.

 Friday was a discussion about the recently passed voting bill in Georgia. Again, for the record, I'm not seeing a logical, reasonable argument for it beyond "way too many black people voted for Democrats." While things like the water bit might get the headlines, the fact is Gov. Brian Kemp and the GOP made it so Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election just because would've been okay next time around. In any event, it - and the ones put forth in Mississippi and Texas - are completely unnecessary to ensure a fair election and only exist to make it harder to vote. Me, I'm for same-day voting and I.D.'s being supplied free of charge by the federal government if they're "necessary," and I'm not convinced they are.

 Okay, the Bottle Rockets. I first fell in love with this band 25 years ago after hearing "Indianapolis" on the local too-awesome-to-last radio station. It was indeed love at first sight. I've always loved my country music and I've always been fond of the stuff that has a little rock & roll grit in it, like Steve Earle and Waylon Jennings, but could also be smart and vulnerable. Like the similar V-Roys from Knoxville, the Missouri group was my Platonic ideal of what a two-guitar-bass-drum band should be.

 Plus, Brian Henneman's one of if not the most consistently amazing songwriters to write no-bullshit rock & roll since at least Dan Baird or maybe Eric Ambel. I can't off the top of my head of a bad song of his, and the vast majority are flat bangers. Plus, he's a monster picker. My brother has said that in a just universe, Brian Henneman would've been the top go-to songwriter for Nashville from the '90s and early Aughts, and we wouldn't be hearing this tedious "back when country music was good" nonsense.

 Speaking of my brother and the Rockets, he saw them before I did. He was at a nightclub in Tunica seeing someone - and there's no telling knowing him - when four scruffy-looking dudes came out and starting setting up equipment. He thought they were roadies. Nope, the Rockets were the opener that night and they rocked it out. (CORRECTION: It was Todd Snider's What The Folk Festival at the New Daisy in Memphis. We regret the mistake.)

 I saw the Rockets maybe eight or ten times, from the first time in Orlando after 24 Hours A Day came out and the last time in Atlanta just before I left North Georgia. I'm pretty sure I've seen every interaction of the band and they were one of the few musical acts I'd pay direct money to for their albums. Them and Swamp Dogg, my brother jokes that everyone else I've "canceled."

 Back when I was a music journalist, I interviewed Brian at least twice and he's a helluva nice guy. He's just like you'd think he'd be from listening to his songs. That's part of the band's appeal and charm. There's no pretension, no gimmick, no posturing. Just straight-ahead rock & roll that's fun more often than not. Dan Baird is still doing his thing but it seems like he's forgotten how to write a hook in the last few years. I'm probably just missing it, though. I know music moves on and the stuff that turns on the kids these days isn't necessarily made for me, and that's okay, but it was nice to know the Rockets were out there banging it out for me.

 But I understand why he's retiring. I didn't realize he was pushing 60 but as I'm closer to 50 than 40, so that's on me. Like most folks, the band's been stuck at home the past year and he says he's just not inclined to change that anymore. That rings true, as well, because there are a whole lot of things I used to love to do that I don't miss either.

 So, thanks, y'all, for the good tunes and carrying the torch. I hope everyone involved enjoys the rest of their ride and I appreciate it they shared some of it with me and the other folks that dug them. That, my friends, is rock & roll. And for the record, all their albums are recommended and the first two have been repackaged in a very nifty presentation with some cool unreleased and live tunes. Dig it.