Red Meat

Red Meat began in a Mission District garage in 1993. But they trace their musical roots much farther back—to the hard honky tonk songs of their youths in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Ohio, as well as the rock music of the ’60s and ’70s that they grew up with. Throw in the Ozark gospel harmonies from Scott Young’s childhood, and you have the basic backbone of the Red Meat sound, unleashed on an unsuspecting San Francisco still reeling from the demise of a strong ’80s punk rock scene. And in a city known for its unusual music and its off-kilter bands, Red Meat did the craziest thing yet: they returned to their roots, writing and performing hard Bakersfield-style country music to sometimes dumbfounded early audiences.