The Professional Americans

One of the city's best young bands has delivered on its promise with its first full-length album. The Professional Americans celebrate the release of "Point. Line. Form." with a free show at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Plaster Student Union theater on the Southwest Missouri State University campus. "Point. Line. Form." is an 11-song release from the alternative rock trio composed of guitarist and lead singer Jason Poe, drummer Corbin Petersen, and bassist James Hafner. The disc was produced by the trio and Oran Thornton, guitarist with Springfield band Flick, a Columbia Records signee. The group became a three-piece after Terry Parker left the group last year, and the new album demonstrates the band is still becoming comfortable in this form, Poe says. Parker drew heavy influence from classic rock, while Poe, Petersen, and Hafner find greater inspiration in alternative rock. "Me, Corbin, and James are more willing to experiment," says Poe, 22. "We like stuff on the other end of the spectrum, so the album to me feels like us trying to find our sound still." Pro Am, as the band's friends and fans refer to it, has developed by leaps and bounds. Poe's claim to continued growth is certainly true, but that doesn't mean "Point. Line. Form." is some half-cocked signpost on the road to a more fully-realized sound. The Professional Americans have hit upon a winning sound, one accessible to mainstream rock fans, but still acceptable to the ears of those who like their rock to sound a bit left of center with insightful lyrics. They've hit another segment, too; Christian fans. The band doesn't think of itself as a Christian group, just a group of Christians. "I think that we would not want to be on a Christian label because immediately that limits your audience," says Petersen, 26. "...We don't really feel that's our audience." They're clearly speaking to that audience, but not in the way most mainstream Christian groups do. One of the album's best songs, "The Nothing You've Become," is a scathing portrayal of slick contemporary Christian artists as "overproduced for corporate youth." Another standout track, "Guitars and Gasoline," is one of my favorites by a local artist since I began covering the music beat three years ago. It's built around a catchy, crank-the-CD-player-up-a-notch chorus and the universal theme of jumping in your car and getting out of Dodge. On the advice of its Los Angeles-based manager, Pro Am is focused more on writing and recording than selling itself right now. That's great advice. The more this band develops, the more the music will simply sell itself.

- Micheal A. Brothers (Springfield News-Leader, 5/6/04) - Springfield News-Leader