Frankie & The Deadbeats

Country music is often assumed to pander exclusively to America’s poor and rural white folks and Southerners, a stereotype that belies the much broader appeal of its storytelling, melodic immediacy, and tradition steeped timbre. It’s true—the output of Nashville’s hit factory may cater to a narrower demographic, but artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and George Jones managed to craft timeless songs that touched upon universal hardships and resonated with a broad swath of music fans. So while a pedal steel and a twangy guitar might conjure images of the American west, there is also something in that combination of sounds that can stir the hearts of people across the world. And for five wild punks of Prague’s Frankie & the Deadbeats, that dusty bucolic sound was the perfect vehicle for their outlaw escapades.