The Meat Purveyors

The Meat Purveyors bill themselves as a bluegrass band, and though their picking is surely as stellar as any traditional bluegrass band — especially Pete Stiles's blazing mandolin — they owe as much to hard-core honky-tonk musicians like George Jones as they do to Bill Monroe. On Someday Soon, they veer closer to old-time country than ever before, adding some soulful pedal steel and Saturday-night piano boogie to the mix. As you'd expect from the album title, the band's outlook isn't exactly cheery, although the darkness is always balanced by acerbic humor. "Don't Be Sorry" is a clever kiss-off presented simply — just guitar, mandolin, and frontwoman Jo Walston's plaintive vocal delivering the punch line, "Don't be sorry, just be gone."