We so want your guitar, Mark Browning!

Like the bastard sons of John Cale and Neil Young, Ox brought their gritty organic sound to Loplops Gallery-Lounge Friday night to promote their 2006 release American Hi Fi.

Sault Ste. Marie is the last stop on a Canada-wide two-month tour for this band, which is no stranger to the road.

Since their album Dust Bowl Revival topped Canadian campus radio charts pushing out Radiohead's Hail to the Thief in 2004, Ox has not only toured Canada extensively, but also the UK, Germany, Ireland, Holland and the coasts of the United States.

While Dust Bowl is a sweet, poetic and introspective album, American Hi Fi is more real and sordid, reflecting the experiences of almost two years straight on the road.

"Lyically and contentwise, I think the theme of American Lo Fi is of the dirtyness of American, North American culture ... diner culture, street culture - not the one you see on daytime talk television - more the one that exists in bus stations," said Mark Browning in a recent interview with Hamilton View Weekly.

Front man and Sudbury native Browning wore his influences on his sleeve as he sang in a voice that projected a punk rock attitude dusted with the history of every roots musician that paved the way for today's newcomers.

Choosing a Gretsch Country Gentleman as his primary guitar, an obvious homage to the late great Chet Atkins, made every musician in the room drool profusely and possibly a bit jealous.

Accompanied by Shawn Dicey on bass and Max Myth on drums, Browning and the boys delivered an outstanding lesson on how to be successful in the Canadian roots music scene, one city and one person at a time.

If you missed Ox at Loplops Friday night, you'll have a second chance to make up for it as the Speak Easy at Algoma University will be hosting them for an encore performance tonight (Saturday) at 10 p.m.

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