The Barn Burners go from garage to groove on Shot Down, their third album and debut release on Atomic Twang.

From the garage comes the disc's title cut, all nervous guitars and frantic toms, hard up against the open-tuned swagger of "Throwin' Your Life Away." From the groove comes a slinky cover of "When I Had Your Love," an overlooked classic that Smokey wrote for Marvin, and "Why I Run," where the band sneaks into Hi Records through the back door. Somewhere in between garage and groove lies "Everything Was Crooked," a vivid recollection of life on the Cleveland, Ohio homefront during World War II that would not sound out of place in the Springsteen catalog. Like previous Barn Burners releases Alibis (2000) and Tobacco Sunburst (1996), Shot Down features a honky tonk shuffle ("Cheatin' to Lose"), swamp blues ("Mud in My Eyes") and Berry/Richards-inspired rockers ("Yesterday's Clothes," "Said the 7 to the 11," and "Rockin' with Viola.") For their final number the boys crank up the reverb and hang ten with Hank Williams on "Moanin' the Blues."

The Barn Burners are based in Baltimore, Maryland and have been setting fire to mid-Atlantic clubs since 1995. Led by guitarist and songwriter Bob Kannenberg, the band features Bonanza D. Jones on drums, Steve Enslow on guitar, and Tony Vittoria on bass. Barn Burners tracks appear on several compilations in the US and abroad, including the Run Wild Records Blasters tribute, Blastered, and the Dusty Records (Sweden) Rockin' at the Barn series. The band has been privileged to share stages with kindred spirits like Dave Alvin, Jason and the Scorchers, Duane Jarvis, the Tarbox Ramblers, Mojo Nixon and Robbie Fulks.