Two weeks after he accepted the award for Best R&B/Soul/Funk Band at the 2003 Flagpole Music Awards Show, Chris Cates will show off the songs that got him that gorgeous trophy in the first place - a trophy, and a forum to (albeit briefly) plug the latest album from his band Parakeet Nelson.

Risky Biscuits has been out for a month or so, and a quick glance at the album cover, which features four flaming buttermilk biscuits with eyes, will clue you into Cates' whole outlook on life - one of fun and laid-back good times. The album opens with a mish-mash of noises: a barking dog, Cates' human beatboxing, Dwayne Wallace's bouncing bass line, Gary Hartle's lively tenor sax performance. It moves into "Whatever Swanson," a funky tune which kicks off the guest-appearance frenzy. This sunny, jubilant-but-aw-shucks ("They tell me you've gotta get a real job/ and stop living like a slob... but there has to be another way!") song features the ivory tickling of King Daddy Zeb's Jason Fuller and Viktor & Andrej's Andrej Kurti on violin.

Drummer Dave Brockway and lead guitarist John Wayne (and yes, he's heard the jokes) round out the group, which Cates formed seven years ago at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, before relocating to Georgia in 1998 and solidifying the lineup two years later. Every member of the band shines on Risky Biscuits, with solos aplenty as the group rides the waves through Parakeet Nelson's soulful hybrid of sounds. On July 4, the group's heading up to Lake Raburn to shoot off some fireworks and play with several local bands - roots-rock trio Krill, for instance. Field Trip opens the Tasty World show. [CH]