Bill Mallonee

The music business is only glamorous for the chosen few — but even by the standards of this notoriously merciless industry, Bill Mallonee has had a tough row to hoe. He first earned notoriety circa the late '80s with Vigilantes of Love, and after independently issuing several well-regarded recordings, the group signed with Capricorn, a bedrock of early Southern rock trying to reinvent itself for a new era. Unfortunately, that attempt failed, as did the three Vigilantes CDs Capricorn put out — and a Warner Bros. compilation sank, too. More indie releases followed, interrupted by another dalliance with a major label (Atlantic), but good reviews couldn't keep the band afloat. Still, Mallonee kept going, and Permafrost, his latest disc for the tiny Meat Market imprint, finds him soldiering on with aplomb; tracks such as "Tourniquet" and "Bank" have a distinctively rootsy feel, emblematic of the hard road he's traveled. The music made by Mallonee, performing at 3 Kings with Beki Hemingway and Kate Laurel Smith, is glamour-free, and that's why it feels so real.