Fill 'er Up  BR5-49: From left, Chuck Mead, Don Herron, "Hawk"
Shaw Wilson, Gary Bennett and "Smilin'" Jay McDowell. Robert
Matheau               But for every badass rebel's strut on
BR5-49's latest disc (including the rocker "Wild One" and the
hilarious swing tune "Out of Habit"), there's also something
sweet. "Storybook Endings" features Bennett strumming acoustic
guitar and crooning over a waltz tempo while mandolin, piano and
other instruments create a lush background. Bennett's quivering,
nasal vocal delivery enhances the mood as he sings that "Castles
and tales where the prince finds the princess ain't real/If you
stop believin'."  "We're becoming more focused, realizing what
we really are -- instead of a novelty cover band or whatever,
you know," says Bennett. "We're doing almost all originals now
on stage." With a newly released live album, Coast to Coast
(which, ironically, does include a clutch of covers from Bob
Wills and Charlie Daniels to Gram Parsons), the band is touring,
seemingly incessantly