Tag: live performance review

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Rayland Baxter, Jose Gonzalez and The Brite Lights, Shakey Graves at Big Sky Brewing Company – live performance review

Our final concert for August at the Big Sky Brewing Company occurred on August 25, and included solo performer Rayland Baxter, and bands José González & the Brite Lights and Shakey Graves.  It was a remarkably chill evening that coincided with the return of the students for the fall semester at the University of Montana and the 13th annual River City Roots Festival.  Once again, it was produced by Knitting Factory Presents, and they did another wonderful job, as did the amazing catering staff of Riversong Gourmet Catering.

Nashville native Rayland Baxter kicked off the evening with a short 20-minute solo set, playing songs from his recently released album Wide Awake.  He also made a tongue-in-cheek attempt at shredding, much to the delight of the crowd.  After his set, we got to spend some time together, as he hung out with me at the pass gate, watching portions of the rest of the artists performing.  He was an extremely nice guy who had a few friends and fans in the audience, and took the time to talk to each and every one of them.

Next on the stage was Swedish artist José González, who brought his band, The Brite Lights, with him.  The harmonies were exquisite, as was the amazing sound of their music.  The audience got into them rather quickly, and were soon in sync with the performance.  The band also had the amazing sound of The Gipsy Kings, and the audience roared with approval at not just the vocal harmonies but the musical harmonies and percussion as well.  Check out their most recent Spotify upload for a taste of the magic.

Finally, it was time for the headliner, and the crowd was restless with anticipation.  This was the third recent performance by Shakey Graves in Missoula.  The last time he was here, he was the opening act for The Decemberists’ Traveler’s Rest Festival last year.  He and his other guitarist snuck into the crowd and began their set from just in front of the sound booth while his drummer and bass player joined in from the stage.  The crowd went crazy, and it became quickly clear that we were in for a wonderful show.  Graves played with his band for approximately 30 minutes before sending them off on a break while he performed alone as a one-man band, reminiscent of the great Rocco DeLuca.  As this was his first local performance with a full band, the audience was most familiar with his solo material.  This portion also lasted about 30 minutes before he was joined on stage for a stirring duet with Baxter.  After the song, Graves invited Baxter to join in with the band, and he continued on acoustic guitar, providing a welcome addition to the overall amazing sound of Graves’ band.  He sent the band away again and performed his final songs by himself, honestly telling the crowd that it was his true “last song”, as he wasn’t going to do a fake encore.  The concert ended before curfew, and the crowd quickly departed the venue.  Afterwards, I had the opportunity to take a co-worker and his date backstage.  She was a huge Shakey Graves fan, and was dying to meet him.  I had already cleared it with management, and Graves was the perfect gentleman as he took the time to talk with them and take pictures.  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful night of music.

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Artists Worth Checking Out Reviews Women in Entertainment

New Years Day, In This Moment, Halestorm at Big Sky Brewing Company – live performance review

Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of hard core or  metal music.  I can listen to it for its musicianship, but the thought of actually attending a concert was foreign.  That all changed recently when I had to work security for a concert featuring three hard rock/metal bands – New Years Day, In This Moment and Halestorm.

Halestorm did their meet and greet before the gates opened, and lead singer Lzzy Hale and her brother RJ, who plays drums in the band, immediately introduced themselves to me.  After they had finished the meet and greet, we chatted about some mutual friends in the Rival Sons, who had opened for them when the band played the Wilma a few years back.  I also met Jessica, the manager for New Years Day, and we talked about the LA music scene, where the band is from.

For the most part, the crowd was young and well-behaved.  For many of them, this is the closest they come to a religious experience, and after experiencing the energy and magic myself, I can understand why they are such die-hard fans.  As a huge fan myself of female-fronted bands, it was an honor to see three such bands at this show.

New Years Day started the evening off with a riveting 30 minute set featuring those sterling vocals of Ash Costello, and driving guitar of Nikki Misery.  Everyone in the band was simply amazing, and they worked the crowd to a frenzy in preparation for the remainder of the show.  The band’s chemistry was palpable, and Costello was a master at crowd engagement.  Her stage presence was monumental, and she had her fans in the palm of her hand.

The next band to take the stage was In This Moment, fronted by lead vocalist Maria Brinks.  This portion of the show was so much more than just a concert, it was an event.  Brinks is a female version of Alice Cooper, and she and her band put on a theatrical spectacle, including having a pair of dancers that perform alongside Brinks.

This was also the portion of the concert that seemed like a church service, with Brinks serving as the pastor and the entire audience as her congregation.  They were fully into the spectacle, and stayed engaged throughout the 75 minute show.  My favorite moment was the band’s cover of Phil Collins‘ “In the Air Tonight,” and I’ll never look at that song the same again.

What also made this portion of the evening fun was hanging out with JR from Halestorm and guitarist Nikki, his drummer and their tech guy from New Years Day, who stood with me to watch most of In This Moment‘s show.  There were amazingly humble and kind individuals despite their star status, and I was impressed by all four of them.

Finally, it was time for the headliner, and the crowd was up for the pinnacle of the evening.  For only a four-part band, Halestorm puts out a lot of music.  Unlike Costello and Brinks, lead singer Lzzy Hale is also a badass guitarist, and showed her skills throughout their set.

Hale has that Joan Jett look, and plays like she’s a Runaway herself.  Her brother RJ is one hell of a drummer, and performed an impressive drum solo during the show.  The band played a lot of songs from their new album Vicious, including the stirring title track which closed their show.

All in all, it was an incredible night, and left me with a new respect for hard rock and metal music and their fans.  After the show, both In This Moment and New Years Day held their meet and greets.  I covered the latter, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know their fans and talking further with members of the band.  I look forward to the next time these bands come to Missoula.

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out Reviews

Travelers’ Rest Festival – day 2 review (part 2)

We continue with the second part of our review of the second day of Travelers’ Rest Festival, brought to us by the good folks at Knitting Factory Entertainment and our friends at Big Sky Brewing Company.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Leigh Smith Photography

The next band to play the Main Stage was a mellow indie-pop/rock band from Chicago named Whitney.  They had been touring with The Decemberists since late May, performing at Red Rocks in Colorado, the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, House of Blues in Las Vegas and Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay in San Diego, and the Festival was the last stop on their tour.  The band released their only album in 2016, which has found success on Spotify, reaching the staggering total of more than 25 million streams.  Featuring the falsetto of Julien Ehrlich and the songwriting core of Ehrlich and Max Kakacek, the band played songs from their album, The Light Upon the Lake.  The official line-up for the band now includes Malcolm Brown, Tracy Chouteau, Charles Glanders, Josiah Marshall and Will Miller, in addition to the founding duo of Ehrlich and Kakacek.

The final performer on the Ponderosa Stage was Brooklyn-based punk rock band Parquet Courts.  While this was my least favorite performance of the Festival, the audience was totally into them, jumping and dancing around and fully engaged in the show.  As with most punk rock music, the songs were short, so the band was able to pack a lot of music into their 45 minute set.  Their energy level was atomic, and that energy passed to the crowd, which gave it back to the band in spades.  It was such a huge difference from the music of Ural Thomas, but the appreciative fans didn’t seem to care, and couldn’t seem to get enough of the only true rock band on the Festival roster.

photo courtesy of Zoran Orlic

With the Ponderosa Stage put to bed, the action returned to the Main Stage for the remainder of the Festival.  First up was Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who wowed the crowd with his well-crafted songs, performing acoustically.  To tell you the truth, by this time in the Festival, I had been working for more than 24 hours, and unable to devote my attention to his set.  I was also trying to recover from the ear-blowing set performed by Parquet Courts, so I pretty much zoned out for Tweedy’s entire performance.

There was about a 45 minute break after Tweedy concluded his set so that the stage could once again be set for The Decemberists, who played their album, The Crane Wife, from start to finish, as they originally intended it to sound.  This portion of their show lasted for about 80 minutes.  After they brought their album to life, they returned for a series of encores and didn’t finish playing until almost 11:45 p.m.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, full of new friends, new music, and a wonderful experience.  We can hardly wait until next year to do it all again.  Our heartfelt thanks to the production crew from Knitting Factory Presents, who put together one of the finest festivals I have ever attended, The Decemberists for curating such a diverse line-up of artists, the crew of Riversongs Gourmet Catering for keeping us fed, and all the new friends I made among the performing artists and their crews.

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out Reviews

Travelers’ Rest Festival – day 2 review (part 1)

Here’s the first part of our review of the second day of Travelers’ Rest Festival, brought to us by the good folks at Knitting Factory Entertainment and our friends at Big Sky Brewing Company.  Day Two followed the same format as Day One, with four artists performing on the Ponderosa Stage and five artists on the main stage, including a second day of The Decemberists headlining.

The first artist of the day was NPR’s latest darling, the adorable Gaelynn Lea.  Despite her diminutive size, she is an amazing violin player whose vocals bring her fans to tears.  She is also one of the most humble artists I have ever encountered in my 30 years in the music industry.  She packed the structure around the Ponderosa Stage like no other artist that played there, and even got Chris Funk (guitar), Jenny Conlee (accordion) and Nate Query (upright bass) from The Decemberists and Joy Pearson (vocals) and Rebecca Marie Miller (vocals) from Lenore to join her for her final song.  Her new album comes out in September, and we can’t wait to review it and share it with you.  It was one of the best performances I have ever experienced, and set the bar for the rest of the day.

The first artist on the Main Stage came all the way from Morocco, bringing their native sound to share with the Festival attendees.  Dressed Bedouin style, Tinariwen shared their drums, guitar, bass and native vocals and the crowd loved it.  The rhythms were amazing, and it was near impossible not to break into dance during the show.  They have a very unique sound that translates well on the Festival scene, and they kept the audience very entertained and engaged throughout their performance.

Here’s the link to their most recent album on Spotify.

Back to the Ponderosa Stage for LA-based indie rock trio Cardioid, composed of Lizzy Ellison on lead vocals and guitar, Riley Geare on drums and Erica  Shafer on bass.  Although the band started in Portland, it has transplanted to the City of Angels, where they are working on their next album, Fantasy Metal, which we can’t wait to review.  Their sound is pure indie rock, with exquisite guitar and bass performances, a throbbing drum beat and the voice of Ellison like the cherry on top of your favorite sundae.  They turned in one of the best rock performances of the Festival, and their 30-minute set was far too short to adequately display their immense talent.

The second artist to take the Main Stage was also the oldest artist performing.  Mavis Staples is 79 years old, and joined her family’s band, The Staple Singers, in 1949.  The band began as a gospel and folk group until after they signed with Stax Records in 1968.  They switched up their sound to a more R&B/soul vibe, and with their third Stax album, they reached #2 on the charts with “Respect Yourself,” and #1 with “I’ll Take You There.”  Staples’ music defies genre, as her sound is a combination of gospel, jazz, blues, R&B, soul and folk.  She wrote the amazing “Freedom Highway” for Martin Luther King in 1962, and participated in the Selma march alongside Dr. King.  She has won multiple Grammy awards, giving her a rich catalog from which to perform.  Unfortunately, 45 minutes is not nearly enough time for her to showcase her immense talent, but she did get to wow the crowd with the aforementioned “Freedom Highway” and “I’ll Take You There,” with which she ended her set.  Her music brought back so many great memories of growing up in the 70s, and was the true highlight of the weekend for me.

The action returned to the Ponderosa Stage and continued in that same 70s R&B/soul vibe with the performance by Ural Thomas & the Pain.  The band is composed of Ural Thomas on vocals, Scott Magee on drums and backing vocals, Arcellus Sykes on bass, Brent Martens on guitar, Steve Aman on keys, Bruce Withycomb on baritone sax, Willie Matheis on tenor sax and Dave Monnie on trumpet.  Thomas had some success back in the late 60s and early 70s when he performed more than 40 shows at the acclaimed Apollo Theater, but left what he considered an unfair business to return home to Portland.  Thomas never gave up his music, and sponsored a jam session in his home for nearly 20 years.  In 2016, Magee convinced him to return to the business, and Ural Thomas & the Pain was born.  Their debut album on Tender Loving Empire is scheduled to be released on September 28.  With that kind of a pedigree, you know the joint was jumpin’.  Thomas was the perfect complement to continue to R&B/soul trip started by Staples, and kept the Ponderosa Stage audience engaged and dancing throughout his set.  He even managed to squeeze in an extra song  beyond his 30-minute set.  His performance was my second most favorite of the Festival.

We’ll be back soon with part 2 of our review.

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Artists Worth Checking Out Reviews Women in Entertainment

Suzanne Santo at the Top Hat – live performance review

Last night we attended the solo show for Suzanne Santo of honeyhoney, who performed to a packed house at the Top Hat Lounge in Missoula, Montana.  Mapache opened the night for her.  They are a duo of acoustic musicians on guitar and dobro who possess some of the best harmonies we have ever heard.  They just released their debut album in October, and we will be reviewing it next week.  These guys were so good that Santo brought them up during her set to do a trio with them that was breathtaking as they did a cover of “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills & Nash.  We highly recommend you check them out.

Santo took the stage about 10:35 p.m., along with Blaine on rhythm guitar and foot bass and Paul on drums.  Santo used three different guitars and her fiddle during her nearly 90 min set, which included a two-song encore.

Santo previously released her debut solo album Ruby Red back in August, and we reviewed it here on our blog on August 23.  She released a music video for the lead single, “Ghost in my Bed,” which garnered a nomination for the LA Music Critic Awards for Best Video Official (Female), while Santo was nominated for Best Roots/Americana Artist (Female).

Santo and her band played nearly all of the songs on her album, as well as an amazing cover of Johnny Cash’s “Give my Love to Rose,” and a medley of honeyhoney songs, including “I Don’t Want to Fight,” “All on You,” and “Burned me Out,” which she performed solo.

She apologized for her late start, and explained that they had played the Tractor Tavern in Seattle on Thursday night and had a hard commute over, arriving after their scheduled sound check.

Among the highlights were performances of “Ghost in my Bed” (featuring some outstanding fiddle), “Blood on Your Knees,” “Bullets,” and “Yours or Mine.”  Blaine was also amazing on guitar and playing bass with his footboard.

Santo talked about her performances last year with honeyhoney, including stops at the Top Hat Lounge and a performance at the Bob Marshall Festival in Seeley Lake.  In fact, there was a large group from Seeley Lake at the show that had gotten hooked on her sound when she performed there.

Santo also informed the crowd that Ben Jaffe, her partner in honeyhoney, would be releasing his solo project soon, and encouraged everyone to check it out.

It was an amazing evening of music.  We strongly encourage you to check out both Santo and Mapache the next time they stop in Missoula.

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Artists Worth Checking Out LA Music Critic Awards Reviews Women in Entertainment

2017 Flathead Lake Blues Festival (day 2) – live performance review

Hope you enjoyed our reviews of day 1 of the Flathead Lake Blues and Music Festival, which featured some of Montana’a best musicians.  The theme for day 2 was “Ladies of the Blues,” and Steve Pickel pulled out all the stops to bring four of the finest and brightest to light up the stage.

First up was Missoula native Andrea Harsell with her new band, Luna Roja.  Harsell has become a Missoula icon with her sound, primarily as a solo artist.  She began hiring drummer Antonio Alvarez and guitarist Nick Hamburg for her gigs, and then asked them to join her as a band.  They hired bassist Michael Rhead to complete the band, and Alvarez came up with the name Luna Roja (Red Moon) because of his Spanish heritage.  They also recorded an album, which will be celebrated with a show at the Top Hat on September 15.  The album will also be reviewed shortly on this blog’s Get it or Forget it series.  Their sound is a mixture of Americana, rock, R&B and blues.  Harsell has a voice akin to Janis Joplin, and it showed on many of their songs, including new tunes “Oh Boy” and “Hard Times,” as well as on their cover of the Sam Cook classic “Bring it on Home to Me.”  The only thing missing was the stage banter, but we are sure that will come as they continue to grow as a band.

Next up was the power-packed sound of Seattle’s Michelle Taylor Band.  If Harsell had the sound of Joplin, then Taylor is the reincarnation.  With her band composed of Robert Morrill on drums, Lissa Ramaglia on bass, Jim Barnes on keys and vocals and her husband, Justin Dean on guitar and vocals, the MTB truly brought the blues home to Polson.  With a mixture of original tunes like “Black Lace” and “Trashy Queen,” and pop hits like Duffy’s “Mercy,” Elle King’s “Exes and Ohs,” Grace Potter’s “Paris” and “Medicine,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Angel From Montgomery,” Tracy Chapman’s “Give me a Reason,” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious,” MTB proved that any song can be stylized as blues.  But what really drove home their exceptional talent was their version of Ike and Tina Turner’s classic “Proud Mary,” which truly allowed Taylor to shine as both a singer and a performer, as she brought Tina’s unique energy to the show.  This performance was one of the pinnacles of the weekend.  Kudos also to both her husband and badass female bassist Ramaglia on their outstanding licks on guitar and bass.  The band also received the first encore of the Festival, and delivered a rousing version of Led Zeppelin’s “Been a Long Time” in response.

The third band for the day was Estelle and the Atomic Jive, who brought something entirely different to this day.  Atomic Jive is reminiscent of a combination of the Royal Crown Review and one of Brian Setzer’s various bands in that they bring an army of sound to the stage.  The band features Estelle on lead vocals, surrounding by the amazing talents of Mike Ruggles on guitar, Lee Cardella on bass, Brian Seagrave on keys, Bob Briley on drums and a horn section that is as powerful as the one from Tower of Power, composed of Russ Hoffer on sax and Mike Baker on trumpet.   Some of the highlights of the show were their version of the “Stray Cat Strut,” the classic jazz standard “Don’t Roll Your Bloodshot Eyes at Me,” Roy Head’s 1965 classic “Treat her Right,” and the theme from the Blues Brothers’ movies, “Peter Gunn.”  This was classic New Orleans jazz-tinged blues, and elevated the musical standard to a new level.

The final act for the weekend was another Seattle band, Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method.  We had the distinct pleasure of awarding them the Best Blues Band trophy for the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2017.  O’Keary was totally taken by surprise, and the band joined in her gratitude for the award.  O’Keary is a red ball of energy, constantly dancing across the stage as she delivers true bad ass licks on her brand new wireless LedBelli Blackbird 6-string bass and vocals that stir the soul.  The band also includes the amazing David Miller on guitar and O’Keary’s husband, Tommy Cook, on drums.  The band performed primarily original material, many of which came from their latest album, Black Crow Callin.‘  Included in their amazing performance were “I Don’t Understand,” “Yours to Lose,” “Red Light,” “Wish You Could See me Now,” “Reconciled,” and “How the Mighty Fall,” which reminded this reviewer of “Mustang Sally.”   They also did a stirring rendition of Eric Bibb’s classic “In my Father’s House.”  Cook laid the perfect foundation on his drums, while Miller proved to be a true guitar aficionado, even playing the guitar behind his head at one point.  The band brought their set and the Festival to a close with an amazing encore with Michelle Taylor and Justin Dean of ZZ Top’s “Tush.”  It was the perfect cherry on top of a super delicious weekend of music.  Special thanks to Steve Pickel and Anderson Broadcasting for bringing these amazing artists to us.  We can hardly wait for next year!!!

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out LA Music Critic Awards Reviews Women in Entertainment

2017 Flathead Lake Blues Festival (day 1 – part 1) – live performance review

We love discovering new bands, and this year’s Flathead Lake Blues Festival proved the perfect location for doing just that.  We were unaware of this amazing festival, and discovered it by accident.  One of the bands slated to play on day 2 of the Festival was the winner of the Best Blues Band category in the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2017.  We had earlier decided to present certificates to all the award winners, and we thought it would be a great idea to present it to the band in front of a crowd.  We contacted Steve Pickel of Anderson Broadcasting, the organizer of the Festival, and he was ecstatic about it.  He invited us to come up and be VIPs for the entire weekend.  Thank you Steve!!!

The first day of the Festival was subtitled “Montana Musicians Review,” and featured 10 Montana bands over a six hour period – very ambitious, but somehow it all came together and only ran about an hour and a half over the schedule.  This review will cover the first five bands to perform, while part 2 will cover the remaining five bands and the special events.

The first artist to take the stage was Missoula’s Andre Floyd and Mood Iguana.  Floyd is an amazing original blues artist who shares his craft throughout Western Montana.  His band included the prolific Dave Griffith on guitar, organ and keys, Ron Reeves on bass and Don Caverly on drums.  Griffith also lent his talents to several other bands throughout the day.  Floyd’s sound is progressive roots-based blues and he brought his best to this performance.  We especially loved his jazzy rendition of the classic song “Our Day Will Come.”  You can catch him playing the Draught Works Brewery stage later this month.

Next up was the Mike Murray Band, who took the music up a notch with their seriously funky style.  Composed of Murray on lead guitar and vocals, Christopher Krager on bass and backing vocals, Marco Forcone on drums and Ryan Wickland on keys, pedal steel and guitar, they joined awesome vocals with some amazing guitar riffs to bring the funk to the Festival.  This is a band that we could see everyday, and never get enough.  They closed their set with a blues number that showed off the funky keys and guitar, and firmly established themselves as a force of music.

The first female-fronted band was next in the person of Halladay Quist, a multi-instrumentalist who completely  wowed the crowd with her stage antics and her incredible mastery of guitar, banjo and electric stand-up bass.  The daughter of musician and would-be politician Rob Quist, Halladay is a ball of energy that never stopped her entire set.  She was joined on stage by her father on acoustic guitar, as well as Dave Griffin on keys and sax, Leif Christian on electric guitar and Bally Lopez on drums  Halladay’s vocals are truly beautiful, and she shares them on music that ranged from country blues to bluegrass to classic rock, including a stunning cover of Jefferson Airplane’s mega-hit “Don’t You Want Somebody to Love.”  One of the highlights of the set was watching her father grin from ear to ear at the talents of his daughter.  Halladay has just released an album that will be reviewed shortly on this blog.  Prepare to be blown away.  She performed several of the new songs during her set, of which we really loved “Let it Burn,” especially in light of our Montana fire season this year.

Leif Christian didn’t have far to go when he finished playing with Halladay, as his band, Ticket Sauce, was the next on the stage.   Joining with his long-time bassist Nathan Talley and substitute drummer, Collin Scott, the Sauce brought it all together with their healthy blend of rock, funk, blues and soul, with a special topping of cool.  They are a party band, and are guaranteed to get any gathering off to a jamming start.  They were especially incredible on their covers of Jimi Hendrix’s “Isabella” and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.”  They also write some great jams, including “Alone.”  They closed their set out the way they began, funky to the end.

The fifth band to take the stage, and the last one we will cover in part 1 of this review, was Off in the Woods, a dynamic six piece band composed of Jon Schumaker on guitar, Layne McKay on saxophone and guitar, Kyle Daugherty on trombone, Kia Abibzadeh on keys, Kai Salmonson on bass and Nathan Noble on drums.   This band is a true local icon, as their members come from Polson, home of the Festival.  They have a very funky jam band sound, with a touch of reggae.  Some of their best songs included “Blue,” “Early Summer Rain,” and “The River.  The band will have a new album out in the near future.

We’ll be back soon with part 2 of this review, followed by our review of day 2.

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Artists Worth Checking Out Reviews

2017 River City Roots Festival (day 2) – live performance review

Day 2 of the 2017 River City Roots Festival came early, and we made sure to get there in time for the first band on the main stage, even though they are a “children’s” band.  The Whizpops are one of Missoula’s best treasures.  Even though their songs are written for children, they have become an adult’s “guilty pleasure,” since the music is so well written that it appeals to all ages.

This award winning band has two elementary teachers and a floating mix of other local performers.  At Roots Fest, the line-up included Josh Farmer on keys, founding member Casey Schaefer on electric guitar, talk box and vocals, Christina Scruggs on vocals, Kevin Cashman on acoustic guitar, tambourine and vocals (including rapping), Jeff Stickney on trumpet, Phil Hamilton on saxophone, Steve Kalling on bass and Daniel Kiely on drums.

The band played songs from throughout their career, including their latest project, Ranger Rick’s Trail Mix, Vol 1, which supports the National Wildlife Federation.  Kids of all ages were dancing to their songs about dancing dolphins, great white sharks, penguins and playing freeze tag.  It was a wonderful start to the day, and the large and enthusiastic crowd ate it all up.

Imagine having to follow an act like that?  Lucky that solo roots songwriter Malcolm Holcombe was up to the challenge.  Holcombe owned the stage as he mesmerized the crowd with his storytelling and songs, holding them in the palm of his hands for 90+ minutes.  His latest album, Pretty Little Trouble, was produced by Darrell Scott, a giant in the Americana scene and a previous performer at Roots Fest.  Needless to say the audience loved every minute of his performance, and showed up in droves to meet him and buy his albums from the merchandise booth.

The Ghost of Paul Revere was the next to take the stage, and they wasted no time in pumping up the energy level, keeping the growing audience entertained and engaged.  They played their own unique blend of folk and rock, and included unique covers of both Springsteen and The Who (“Baba O’Reilly”).  They were coming off a string of opening slots for the Infamous Stringdusters, and kept the energy level high as afternoon turned into early evening.  Like Holcombe before them, they proved popular at the merchandise, and sold out their selection of CDs.

The fourth act of the day was the incredible Band of Heathens, normally a five piece country rock act from Austin, Texas.  They were indeed lucky to be with us at all, as they were almost stuck in Texas, thanks to Harvey.  They did have to leave their keyboard player there, but it was because his wife had a baby, and not because of the hurricane.  The band played many songs from their latest project, Duende, including the amazing songs “Sugar Queen” and “Carry Your Love.”  We were so impressed with their material that we recently reviewed that album.  Lucky for the crowd, the band will be coming back in November to play what will probably be a sold-out show at the Wilma.

The Festival concluded with the dynamic sound of Anders Osborne and his electric blues.   This four piece guitar and drums band put the exclamation point on a spectacular weekend of music.  Thanks to all involved and especially Eileen Buchanan for another successful Roots Fest.

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2017 River City Roots Festival (day 1) – live performance review

Twelve years ago the City of Missoula and the Missoula Downtown Association decided to do something special to welcome the returning and first time students at the University of Montana.  The event has grown every year, and now includes two days of family friendly fun in Caras Park with kid friendly bands, games and crafts, as well as an art show, food vendors, beer garden and, of course, quality bands on the Main Stage.

For the first time since we moved to Missoula, the event changed from Saturday and Sunday to Friday and Saturday.  Although we weren’t there to check it out, the music began at noon with a couple of bands featuring children.  First up were the representatives from the Tangled Tones Music program, Third Capo Kids and Satellite Jacket.  They were followed by the kids who had participated in the Zootown Arts Community Center Rock Camp Bands.

The adult bands started at 2:30 p.m. with local favorite Rotgut Whines, a two-piece rock and soul band featuring Evan Manuel on lead vocals and guitar and Andrew Murphy on drums and backing vocals.  Due to the massive problems with the sound, their set was difficult to understand and hear unless you were right in front of the stage.  They also had some questionable choices in covers, including a very bad attempt at Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams.”  However, when they were on target, they connected well with the audience.  All in all, it seemed that despite their recent success, they were not yet ready for a festival appearance.

Next up was the jammin’ reggae of Taj Weekes and Adowa.  We have been long time reggae fans and haven’t seen much of it since our move.  The music of Taj Weekes and Adowa more than made up for that.  The sound problems that plagued Rotgun Whines continued for the first couple of songs, but were eventually fixed, allowing this amazing artist to shine.  Weekes’ vocals are nearly falsetto, and soared above the rhythmic grooves of his band, allowing the growing crowd the chance to participate in the Rastafarian way.  The crowd had a blast dancing to the music, and it swelled over the length of the set.  This set was one of the true highlights of the Festival.

The third slot of the day belonged to former country great Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband.  The band had a few country hits back in the early 2000’s when they were signed to Capitol Records.  If their set on this day was any indication, they still have a lot to contribute to today’s music scene.  They played their hits and most of their songs on their recent CD, which was released last year on Tydal Wave Records.

The new sound of the band is more akin to that of a country Beach Boys, with a healthy helping of rock.  Accompanying Shupe (fiddle and vocals) were Roger Archibald on guitar and vocals; Craig Miner on banjo, mandolin and vocals; Josh Larsen on bass and vocals; and Nate Young on drums and vocals.  The band even brought their amazing sound engineer, Dallan Rees, who kept the band sounding great all set long.  Among their songs were outstanding performances of “Hey Hey Hey,” “Brand New Shoes,” “The Sun Will Shine Again,” “He Knows Karate,” “Corn Dogs,” “Just Say Yes,” and “Take me Home.  They also did a stunning cover of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” incorporating a sample of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”  But the icing on the cake was their performance of one of their biggest hits, “Dream Big,” which included a ladies choir from the Jocko Valley Community Chorus, and a special “appearance” by the voice of Kermit the Frog on “The Rainbow Connection.”

Unbeknownst to me, my old friend Steve Garvan was managing Shupe.  It was a great chance to hang out with him and catch up.  So thankful to have people like Garvan helping to bring out the best from the indie music community.

The final performer of the night was John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band.  Jorgenson is considered to one of the fathers of modern bluegrass, and his songs have been covered by a myriad of artists, including Brad Paisley and Allison Krause.  Jorgenson provided a magnificent performance of his song, “Whiskey Lullaby,” which was recorded by Paisley and Krause.

I spent most of their performance working the merchandise booth as a volunteer for the Festival.  Even from there, the music was incredible and it was obvious that the crowd was enjoying the electricity created by these bands.  The only downside was that the headliner’s bluegrass sound did not have the same energy as Shupe, and the vibe fizzled as Jorgenson cut his set short.  It was still a great day of music, and helped to prepare the crowd for the awesomeness to come on Day 2.

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Artists Worth Checking Out LA Music Critic Awards Reviews

Chris Chilton and Jerad Finck at Bellwether Brewing Co – live performance review

Last month we had the distinct pleasure of attending the performances of Chris Chilton and Jerad Finck at the Bellwether Brewing Co in Spokane, Washington.   Bellwether is owned and operated by Finck’s high school friend Thomas Croskey.  Finck arranged the show to highlight the brewery and to introduce Chilton from nearby Coeur d’Alene, with whom Finck has been writing and producing.

Croskey opened Bellwether in September 2015 as a place where he could demonstrate his love for historical home brews.  The brewery usually has about 19 options for beer, of which 8 or 9 are ongoing brews and the remainder are seasonal.  In fact, he created a beer called “Goomba Juice” just for this special occasion.

The Bellwether beer menu consists of Old World styles from Celtic and Nordic influences as well as contemporary Northwest styles.  The menu also contains food items like pistachios, panini’s, soft pretzels, cheese platters and bread and butter.  Interestingly enough, the bread is made daily by Alpine Bakery using the brewery’s spent grain.

Besides this amazing musical show, the Bellwether is also home to several festivals, including GruitFest in February and the BraggotFest in July.  For more information, check out their website.

First up was Chilton for a short five-song warm-up set.  He has deep passionate vocals that bring his well-crafted lyrics to life.  Not only was he amazing on his own song “You Won’t Hurt me Anymore,” but he also killed it on his cover of the Snow Patrol song, “Run.”  He closed his short set with the first single off his new project, “Adonai,” a song he co-wrote with Finck and which Finck produced.  Check out his lyric video below:

After a short break, Finck took the stage and launched into “Never Coming Back.”  Finck has great stage presence and has mastered the art of audience interaction with his tales of high school hi-jinks and the back stories of how the songs came to be written.

Among the songs he performed were originals “Code Breaker,” “Pieces of April” (which he wrote when he first met his wife, and which was nominated for an LA Music Critic Award), “Blood in the Water,” and “Carried Away,” along with a wonderful cover of The Cure’s “Love Song,” a band he was a big fan of while growing up.

He saved his best for the end of his set, including “Criminal,” a song he co-wrote with Steven Solomon and Darrell Hodges, and which won the 2016 grand prize in the USA Songwriting Competition, as well as his latest single, “New Kids,” which is all about standing up for the underdog.  Both songs were winners in the LA Music Critic Awards and have done well on the Hot AC charts, with the latter being the basis for his upcoming fall tour through Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana.

The audience demanded an encore, and Finck complied with an older song, “Whatever You Want.”  It was the perfect culmination of a delightful evening of song and beverage.