White Water Tavern came to Sticky Fingerz last night. Literally...I saw the management there. It was all beer, bourbon, smoke and sweat, as Hayes Carll, with a little help from Corb Lund and his band, brought the house down on a hometown crowd. Carll, technically a Texan, spent a few years at Hendrix in Conway back in the 90s and, judging from how many songs he claimed were inspired by that not-always-happy time, they were formative years for him musically.
There was plenty of great stuff from Trouble in Mind, his latest album and first with Lost Highway Records, but Little Rock and Flowers and Liquor were well represented as well in the satisfyingly long set-list. “Drunken Poets Dream” (the Ray Wylie Hubbard collaboration), “She Left Me for Jesus”, “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart”, and Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” were all stand-out performances from the new album. One beer-swilling fan shouted his appreciation more than once that the Waits tune was part of the mix.
Carll has developed a confident stage presence, and he used it to great effect, clearly bouyed by playing in his old stomping groungs. The numerous references to Arkansas and Little Rock in Carll's repertoire didn't hurt either. When he finally left the stage at a quarter 'til one, the crowd called him back for a couple more before things finally wrapped up.
Corb Lund did a decent job warming up the house. Arkansans never quite know what to make of his mix of Alberta accent -- he pronounces "about" as "aboot" -- and country twang, but they seemed to make him feel right at home. Carll even jumped on stage with him at one point, and he returned the favor during Carll's set.
All in all, it was a great night. Hayes Carll showed Little Rock why he's considered an up-and-coming sensation, and Little Rock showed that it couldn't be prouder.
-G
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