The family band Kings of Leon was raised on gospel but has found its salvation with garage rock

By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 9/12/2003

The Kings of Leon had a childhood that could make Jerry Lee Lewis blush. The band is fronted by three brothers who traveled around the South with their father, a Pentecostal minister who schooled them in religion before suffering a nervous breakdown compounded by alcohol consumption that caused him to be defrocked. It's a story that must already have producers of "Behind the Music" salivating. The Followill brothers -- Caleb, Nathan, and Jared -- spent much of their youth in a 1988 Oldsmobile with all of their belongings in the trunk. They listened

to their dad preach from town to town, while Caleb and Nathan played gospel music, joined by their dad on bass and mom on organ and piano in various churches and tent revival meetings. Later, of course, the sons rebelled and got into rock 'n' roll. Their dad, a former hippie, planted some rock seeds by exposing them to records by Bob Dylan and the Band (after their rock-hating mom went to sleep at night).

As the boys grew older, they discovered the Rolling Stones. And the rest is garage-rock history, as the Kings of Leon (their dad's name is Leon, hence the moniker) have roared into public view with a debut album, "Youth and Young Manhood," which has put

them right up there with the Strokes and the White Stripes. Some writers have called the Kings of Leon "Southern rock," but that's not true. "I don't get it either," says Caleb Followill, whose group headlines Axis tonight. No, just think early Stones, and you're closer to the group's barbed-wire, guitar-rock core, as well as to Caleb's manic vocal histrionics. "We love the Stones. We used to listen to them like crazy," he says. "We heard a little of them from our dad, but it was later in life that we really started listening, and then we bought everything they did. I love Mick Jagger's vocals."

The Kings of Leon also love Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, and the Velvet Underground. "All the music we like has a raw quality and a very broken-down quality," says Caleb, who is 21. (His brother Nathan is 23, Jared is 17, and the other member, cousin Matthew, is 18.)

Their songs represent a wild ride, often prompted by what they observed as youths traveling around and seeing both the good and bad in people. "Holy Roller Novocaine" is about a perverted evangelist who lures a young woman to his "white Cadillac" for some very secular attention. The bluesy "Dusty" is about a kidnapping, "Trani" is about a Southern transvestite, and "Joe's Head" is about a murder. There are dark themes amid the hopped-up rock energy, but also boy-girl songs such as "Molly's Chambers" that have a lighter flair.

"Some songs are all about our life and what is real, but some are just us writing a story," says Caleb, whose group received arranging help from Angelo Petraglia, a former Bostonian now living in Nashville, near where the brothers are based. (They still see their father, by the way, who is now a house painter and one of their biggest fans.)

So what does the Pentecostal crowd think of the Kings of Leon today? "I think they all pretty much hate us," Caleb says. The opposite is true, though, for rock fans who like their music to be minimalist and hard-hitting. For them, the Kings are more like saviors than lost souls.

In the clubs: The Rag Man Son Revue at the Lizard Lounge: Speaking of Angelo Petraglia, he leads this sensationially diverse band. Angelo (his preferred show name), who used to be in Boston bands Face to Face and the Immortals before moving to Nashville, had some of his older Boston mates with him (Stu Kimball on guitar and Billy Beard on drums), creating a vivid camaraderie. Although he has won fame in Nashville by penning the hit "Believe Me Baby (I Lied)" for Trisha Yearwood -- Angelo's stage material was more a triumphant melange of rock, jazz, and R&B than country. One minute it had the festive spirit of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, the next a straight-ahead rock sound.

Bits and pieces: The "A Mighty Wind" show, which had been scheduled for Sept. 22 at the Orpheum, has been canceled . . . The Samples, Jim's Big Ego, and the Skills of Ortega perform at the Paradise next Thursday. It's a benefit to fight cervical cancer . . . This writer erred in a recent column when reporting that Shelby Lynne had been inspired by a friend who had brain cancer. The woman had breast cancer . . . A Bruce Springsteen postscript: Greg Aielloof Winchester recently called to say that the family of South Boston's Jim Berger, who died in the attack on the World Trade Center, received a call of sympathy from Springsteen as well as a personalized videotape of Springsteen addressing the family and singing a solo "Thunder Road" . . . Tonight: Ted Leo (solo) at the Middle East Upstairs, the Black Eggs at Toad, Sticky and Sam Bisbee at the Lizard Lounge . . . Tomorrow: Duke & the Drivers rock Arlington's Regent Theatre to benefit the Boston Rock & Roll Museum, and Bellevue Cadillac is at the Sea Note. Also, Zeitgeist Gallery has its second annual piano festival from noon to 1 a.m. with Gill Aharon, David Maxwell, and Daniela Schaechter . . . Sunday: Evanescence at Avalon.