Lane & the Badass Chickenbones play energetic California Americana music, rock tempered with traditional instruments like mandolin, fiddle and slide guitar. It's a wry blend that simultaneously tips its hat to its country roots and embraces with soul-baring gusto the pleasures and pitfalls of urban life. Established in 1997, this San Francisco band brings together four unique talents and blends their stories and styles in a sound fueled by dueling guitars, loping bass and driving drums. The Chickenbones' latest release, Small Business (2003), features 11 original songs about broken cars, broken hearts, the devil, a boy named Jim and a girl named Carol.