Who are the Authorities? If the Authorities sound like they were born in a barn, it’s because they were. Not just any old horse and hay barn, we’re talking about THE barn. The barn of seventies guitar blues dust. The barn of odd ottomans and office chairs clustered around the woodstove that taught William Blake to belly dance. The barn where machinist’s tools ping a primal rhythm against the anvil of song. Where a needle placed between the grooves in the wall will produce brainwave vibrations of generations past. The only known indigenous habitat of alcoholic fruit flies. Norman Rockwell once painted a picture of the barn. After that they rearranged all the furniture. Something like a year ago, a folkie named Britt Cowen stepped into the barn to hear a band play. The Authorities, under a different name. Heavy. He came back again, started picking up any instrument he could find lying around. They taught him a Primus song. He taught them a Grateful Dead song. Not long after, Britt Cowen & the Authorities were formed. It is only fitting, then, that out of such circumstances comes music such as this. How to describe it? There’s folk. There’s punk. There’s various species of rocks and metals. Often, the song doesn’t go as planned. But somehow, a collection of original songs has emerged through the smoke and haze to coalesce around a central theme: Living in Exile. The album is scheduled for release this spring. When you hear it, you may ask yourself, “What am I listening to?” Call it what you will. The boys in the band just hope you like it. And they think you will. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the band checked Wikipedia– they’ve taken to calling it Cowpunk.