Bindley Hardware Co. - Ever Satisfactory (2017)

To call the Bindley Hardware Co. a country band is accurate in the same way that the Ohio is a river or JuJu Smith-Schuster is a Steelers rookie.

The real story is so much more complex. Jon Bindley, the lead singer and mastermind behind the band's debut album, "Ever Satisfactory," creates music that transcends a simple description and hearkens back to a different era of music.

"I love Gram Parsons," says Bindley, who will release the album on Nov. 17 with a show at the Allegheny Elks Lodge on Pittsburgh's North Side. "He called his sound the cosmic American music. It was country, but there's something else in there. It's interesting that people associate country music with a certain kind of thing, but country music in the city is pretty cool; it goes through the lens of Pittsburgh."

Bindley, who grew up in Forest Hills and Greenfield, describes the music as "Rustbelt Americana," and it's easy to make comparisons to bands such as the Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo. But there's also an unquantifiable element that partially stems from his family history. The band name is taken from a hardware store his great-great uncle owned in Shadyside from 1880 through 1910 that is now the site of an apartment building.

"It's more mysterious than anything else," Bindley says. "It's something I didn't know about until later in life. It's so long ago … It's a great story about how Pittsburgh has changed and we had to reinvent ourselves. How can I take what was good about that time, which was quality? I love the whole aesthetic behind it. It's really helped give me a vison."

For "Ever Satisfactory" Bindley assembled a group of musicians that includes guitarist Christopher Putt, bassist Ryan Kantner, Waylon Richmond on mandolin and fiddle, keyboardist Greg Marchetti and drummer Brian Ganch (who has since moved to Scotland), with guest appearances by fiddler Abby Adams and vocalists Shane McLaughlin and Angela Mignarelli. They produced a recording that reflects Bindley's rekindled interest in the area after living in Nashville for a few years.

"I think embracing where you're from as an artist, it's the only way that works for me," he says.

Bindley realizes that country music in an urban setting is not always met with open arms unless it's a Kenny Chesney stadium concert. Despite that obstacle, he finds that once people hear the Bindley Hardware Co., preconceived notions tend to disappear.

"Genre-wise, good songs are good songs," Bindley says. "A lot of people are averse to twang … and people have knee-jerk reactions. I'm definitely conscious that it's going against the grain a little bit in Pittsburgh. You tell people you're in a country-rock band, sometimes they look at you funny. But who doesn't like Johnny Cash? You ask people, 'you like Johnny Cash, and they are 'oh yeah.' Well, that's country."