WATERLOO – The reigning Iowa Music Awards Country Artist of the Year, local favorite Katie and the Honky Tonks, are back with “Last Call Lies,” their first new release since last year’s breakout debut album, “Ain’t No Shame.” If you’ve been hankering for another dose of original, two-steppin’, unapologetically classic country music from this four-piece band, “Last Call Lies” hits all the marks.

Fronted by singer-songwriter Katie Sires – a Gladbrook native and Iowa’s self-proclaimed honky-tonk queen – “Last Call Lies” grabs your attention from the vocal intro as her mezzo-soprano delivers the raw opening: “It’s a quarter to two, bartender’s cleaning a glass.” Those familiar with the early recordings of the late country music matriarch June Carter Cash will certainly feel it – this is not the pop-heavy music played on country radio today. Like Carter Cash, Sires showcases nuance and a distinctive nasal twang, giving a genuine feel to this blue-collar anthem made for those who just don’t want to lay it down quite yet.

Asked to describe the single, Sires summed it up best: “‘Last Call Lies’ is a cheeky love letter to the bar scene and the night owls who never want the night to end. A flirtatious tribute to chasing one more moment of fun before going home, but never alone!”

The song was recorded live to two-inch tape at Catamount Recording in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where it was mixed and mastered in analog by Travis Husiman. Recording live is paramount to Katie and the Honky Tonks’ sound, which was honed in one of the only dancehalls left in Iowa some two winters back. “It’s what honky-tonk music is all about,” Sires explained. “These days, so much country music is polished to perfection, but in my opinion, that often comes at the expense of character and individuality. We don’t have any interest in sounding like everyone else. We’d rather stand out, embrace the imperfections, and remind people that music doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful.”

It’s easy to be transported to an after-work watering hole while listening to “Last Call Lies” as Sires’ voice envelops the listener in a sort of two-step haze. The way her vocals fall into the chorus is a trip. “Last call, hon, but I ain’t leaving so fast / My boots might be scuffed, my brain a little fried / But the night feels young, don’t wanna say goodbye,” she declares before sliding into the chorus, where she thumbs the lyrics: “Last call lies, don’t do me like that / Last call lies, I just keep coming back / Could you pour another round, let that jukebox play / Last call lies, why do you do me this way?”

Katie and the Honky Tonks perform at the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid, New Mexico, this past April as part of their Southwest tour. The local favorite – (from left) Johnny Love, Jesse Cotton, Katie Sires and Luke Jerry – released their new single "Last Call Lies" today, Friday, Sept. 4, on the successful heel of last year's breakout debut album, "Ain't No Shame." PHOTO COURTESY OF LUKE SIRES

The interludes by guitarist Jesse Cotton, a Gladbrook-Reinbeck 2004 graduate, burrow “Last Call Lies” even deeper into your soul, driving the sound with a bluesy undercurrent. In the final turn of the chorus, Sires punches up the octave, showing her range and bringing it home with a plea to just not leave yet. Sires said the song’s storytelling came from the band’s own lore, specifically from a playful difference of opinion between herself and Katie and the Honky Tonks’ band manager and drummer, Luke Jerry, a North Tama Class of 2002 alumnus who also happens to be her husband and has helped shape her sound through the years.

“‘Last Call Lies’ came to fruition from a running band joke,” Sires explained. “Luke is a stickler for time and is very responsible. If we go out or play a show, he likes to get home at a decent time. I, on the other hand, am the total opposite! ‘Last Call Lies’ is all about wanting to stay at the bar and not being ready to go home for the night. The lyrics came first, and I knew I wanted it to be a fun and sassy-sounding song, so I came up with a bluesy melody, which isn’t something I’ve done before. I brought the song to practice, and the guys helped me arrange it and bring it to life.”

As Cotton and bassist Johnny Love, also a G-R graduate, strum the final notes of “Last Call Lies,” it’s easy to want more of Katie and the Honky Tonks, to keep coming back, like Sires sings. The band is so tight, and it shows both in this new release and through their incredible live shows. Sires’ winsome, puckish humor is often on full display on stage, along with her signature curly red hair and the band’s secondhand-sourced retro western outfits. This is most assuredly not Katie and the Honky Tonks’ last call.

And that’s no lie.

“Last Call Lies” is available on all streaming platforms today, Friday, Sept. 4. Katie and the Honky Tonks debut album, “Ain’t No Shame,” is streaming everywhere and physical copies are available at katieandthehonkytonks.net or katieandthehonkytonks.bandcamp.com.

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