 Most people's first experience seeing Jeff Coleman and the Feeders may be the band opening for groups like Cracker, Sonvolt, Old 97's, Candlebox, Big Head Todd, Jack Ingram, Marty Stuart, Ian Moore and Pat Green. My first experience involved a 55 year old bald-headed, overweight, giant of a man suffering from major heat stroke at Riverfest's Triple-S Alarm stage back in '07. Jeff Coleman and the Feeders were about halfway through the set when my buddy pointed out the guy sitting by himself, beet-red on a bench on the north side of the stage. Now normally a guy suffering through some intense heat-stroke would not be amusing but Jeff Coleman was right in the middle of the song, Pterodactyl. With every Cah! Cah! Cah! Pterodactyl!!! of the song the guy seemed to be getting worse and worse. Nobody else seemed to be noticing the intense irony of what was happening on-stage versus the guy completely out of it off to to the side. We were about to search around for some medical help when the guy finally started to calm down. One of his female friends came up and got him on his feet.
Now I don't know if it was just the intense energy of the infamous Pterodactyl song or the 95 degree Arkansas summer but it was no coincidence that the guy finally started to come out of it after the song was over. While Pterodactyl at Sticky Fingerz Saturday night didn't live up to the same never-forgotten incident at Riverfest, the song still rocked. Maestro again went nuts with the lighting and made head banging Jeff Coleman look almost like Angus Young of ACDC. Clearly the most distortion drenched song in Jeff Coleman's arsenal of two album's worth of songs, the song was a great end cap to two hours worth of great alternative country, Southern Rock inspired mayhem.
"I'll Never Write Another Song Again" sounded awesome in the first half of the set. With lyrics like "inspiration drier than an Arizona wind" one must wonder how Jeff Coleman conjured up the last two thirds of his "AmericanB" album, independently released a year ago. Oddly enough the next song he wrote was "Running Through Mexico", one of the better of many awesome songs on his new album. Coleman's songwriting is filled with lyrics about the traditional folklore of the modern Southwest and with great songs like "Tango", "Nena Bonita", "Running Through Mexico" and "Gringo" one must wonder if Jeff spent some time down there himself. Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro! and the band ripped into "Where Are All The Americans", an almost Social Distortion-esque song about traveling through Southern California and not finding any "Americans".
Riverfest was not the last time I saw Jeff Coleman take the stage. I have seen him play in Little Rock as a special guest with the Good Time Ramblers twice in the past two weeks. Given the go-ahead with "All The Whisky In Texas" and backed by GTR's solid backing, Jeff Coleman has become an integral part in any of GTR's energy driven sets. Both bands are good friends and seem to swap talent whenever given the chance. Alex Piazza of GTR took the stage this time for a couple songs in the middle part of the second set. The band basically gave him the song and the key and Alex did what he does best.
Jeff Coleman's '72 style Tele and Mark Chiaro's Les Paul are meant to be played LOUD. The new album AmericanB is probably best listened to at 2am on the way back out of Juarez doing about 95mph down Interstate 30 headed towards middle-of-nowhere Texas. There is not a bad song on the album and whatever producer they had did a great job of capturing their live energy in the studio. If you strip back all the shredding guitars, Jerry Codova's thumping bass and Stan James' driving percussion you will find some absolutely phenomenal song-writing. I just bought their cd about two hours ago and I am already in my second passing through. I can only hope the band gets more of their first album, "Done To Death" in print for their next outing in Little Rock. Check them out on their Myspace page and definitely check them out the next time they are playing in town.
-T
http://www.myspace.com/jeffcolemanandthefeeders
 Little Rock can't seem to get enough of The Good Time Ramblers lately. I don't know what rock I was living under the last couple years. It's either I just missed them or this band has just completely exploded onto the LR local music scene. Solid songwriting, great vocals, and an array of impressive instrumentation, there are truly no weak links. They have been writing music since the summer of 2005 and just released an EP last year. In preparation for last weeks run of concerts I checked them out on their Myspace page and was blown away. I marked their White Water show that week on the LRLM concerts page. Originally scheduled to be the opener they unexpectedly headlined that night for American Aquarium and Nathan Singleton. After an incredible performance by the two opening bands from Raleigh and Austin, Little Rock's GTR went toe to toe and played late into the night.
Part traditional country, alternative country, and southern rock, GTR have a passion for music that is widely apparent from their live shows. The band is one of the most solid performing acts I have seen in recent years. Lead vocalist John Lefler and bass guitarist Rich Dwiggins harmonize perfectly, Alex Piazza is an amazingly talented lead guitar and pedal steel player, and Brooks Browning keeps the beat and the energy flowing.
I normally don't go to shows by myself but Thursday night was a big exception. Everybody else from LRLM was out of town so it was just me. I showed up at Sticky Fingerz at around 9:30 just as GTR were getting into their sound check. Sticky Fingerz was jammed packed. Now at first I thought maybe it was the $2 Coronas (beer of the month) or the free cover charge. I was proved wrong when the crowd stuck around for the entire 2 1/2 hour show and judging by their response, became obvious everybody was there for the band. I think the band was even slightly surprised by such a large turnout. Last week at White Water Lefler asked the very welcoming and energetic crowd where they had been for the past three years. Obviously a little taken back by their recent success, this band is definitely going somewhere. With an even larger audience at Sticky Fingerz Thursday night the band fed off of their quickly expanding fan base through the early morning hours.
The band played through their entire EP released last year and several new songs from the tentatively titled Bigelow Strange album due out in the fall. The band has almost completed the album and just needs to spend some more time, and money, in post production. Rich sang lead on several songs including a new one he wrote while hanging out at Tootsie's in Nashville. Another one "Coming Back Home Again" was introduced to the audience that sounds great live. Brooks kicked into the two-step and Alex played an awesome guitar riff that had people instantly hooked.
The band paid tribute to some of their early influences and played through songs by Johnny Cash, Gillian Welch, Jimi Hendrix, The Band, Willie Nelson and a host of others. The band really got the party started and the dance floor hopping when they ripped into their version of "Mississippi Queen". Sticky Fingerz lighting and sound guy, Maestro, worked the lighting controls to make GTR look like something right out of Guitar Hero. I think the most impressive moment of the night came when the band covered Springsteen's "Atlantic City" They covered the legendary song perfectly and transitioned in to my favorite song off their EP "Gotta Get Back". The most unexpected moment came when later in the second half Jeff Coleman from "Jeff Coleman and the Feeders fame" joined the band on stage to play a thunderous version of his awesome song "All The Whiskey In Texas" In case the audience was still not convinced, the band played the most impressive version of Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" I think I have ever heard. Another couple songs off their EP, "Roland Lilly" (written about Lefler's wife) and "Carolina County" had the band's friends the "Saline County Boys" and group from Buffalo Grill stomping to the beat.
If you haven't seen them live yet, you will undoubtedly have plenty of opportunity. The band has a quickly expanding group of fans and are gaining extraordinary momentum. I quite honestly don't know where we have "all been the past three years", but we are all here now, and the Good Time Ramblers freakin' rock.
http://www.myspace.com/goodtimeramblers
-T
Good friends, good drink, and good music. All three are necessary ingredients in the recipe for a great Friday night. All three were present Friday night as Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives put on an impressive show for us at Sticky Fingerz. I showed up early and alone and the man and woman at the door asked if I'd like a table for one. They looked at me funny when I said that, in fact, I would be needing a table for 10, thank you very much. "Well, what time will the other nine be arriving?" they asked. "I don't know, at different times." "Well, what time will they start arriving?" "I don't know, in five or ten minutes." "How many will be here in five or ten minutes?" "I don't know. A few." I let them off the hook and told them I didn't really expect them to provide me a table for 10. In the end, the eight-top that the lady from the front door graciously pulled together for me ended up comfortably handling our crew of 12. Those folks at Stickyz are a pretty accommodating lot when it gets right down to it, and it's one of the better places to see live music in town, especially when you look at some of the talent who have come through there recently -- Hayes Carll, Claire Holley, and, Friday night, Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives.
The New Frontiers, an indie quintet from Dallas, started out the night. Honestly, my first impression of this band's performance was that it was loud. They were having trouble controlling THE VOLUME OF THEIR AMP(!!!). It was turned up to 11, and Alex Bhore hacked away like he had something personal against the drum kit. But when they settled into some of their more restrained material, things really started to sound much better. And I can't be too hard on them because they're recorded stuff is not bad at all. "Black Lungs" and "Walking on Stones" are personal favorites from their new album Mending. And hell, they're earnest. And I like earnest people.
After an hour of sipping tea by herself during The New Frontiers' set, Sera Cahoone took to the stage next. She's currently touring with Grand Archives and was formerly the drummer for Carissa's Wierd (yes, they intentionally misspelled "weird"), a band which, not coincidentally, Grand Archives' frontman Mat Brooke used to play guitar and sing for. They were also both in a little-known act called Band of Horses. Her music combines elements of country with a bit of indie rock, and she's touring to promote her latest with her new label Sub Pop Records, 2008's Only as the Day Is Long, a nice little CD with some great songs. The banjo adds a great touch to some warm, subdued music that's easy to listen to. Cahoone's smooth voice layers nicely with the music, and it's even more evident on the CD, which I highly recommend purchasing. On their website, NPR describes the sixth track, "You're Not Broken" as "the sonic equivalent of a foot-rub at the end of a long day."
It was after 11:00 when Grand Archives struck their first note. I'd been listening to their CD for a week, so "Miniature Birds" was instantly familiar (and welcome). A few of their songs will disappoint listeners at a live show who have only heard the CD if they go into it thinking it's going to sound the same. It's simply too difficult to replicate the sonic layering of a CD track like the hypnotic "Sleepdriving" on the small stage. But if you remove those expectations, the stripped down version doesn't disappoint, and it's impressive how they can come so close to replicating that full sound with just guitar and keyboard. "Swan Matches" and "Index Moon" were simply beautiful, with a falsetto harmony that took you to another place. But "The Crime Window" is where we really got to hear what this band can do live. Its clever lyrics and upbeat, driving rhythm took the performance to the next level, to the point that even the blackberry gazers at the table had to look up and take notice.
We got to hang out with Sera Cahoone and Mat Brooke for a while after the show. They were all getting ready to pull an all-nighter on the road to Austin, but they couldn't have been more gracious with their time, talking shop and signing posters and CD cases. They even initialed a couple of pins for some of the girls in our group. Nothing like having a little autographed flair. By the time we headed out the door to let the bands hit the road we came away with the sense that these were very down-to-earth people who want nothing more than to perform the music they love for people who love it too. I can tell you that at least some of those people live right here in Little Rock.
Here's hoping that the road leads Sera Cahoone and Grand Archives back to Little Rock again soon.
-G
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
-“The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, W.B. Yeats, 1893
Lyrics to Claire Holley’s “Innisfree”, 2008
 I suppose I was bound to be won over by any performer who takes Yeats as her inspiration. The legendary poet’s work – timeless, symbolic and mystical – has resonated with me since I was first exposed to it in a college composition class. None of Yeats’ writing more clearly exemplifies his recurring theme of alienation in the modern world and ever-present longing for peace through solitude than “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” It clearly resonated with Claire Holley as well. “Innisfree”, the second track on her just-released album Hush, serves as a reminder that, sometimes, excellence in artistic expression is born of the simplest of ideas – like putting a beloved old poem to music. But there’s much more to admire about Claire Holley than her appreciation of, and homage to, the great Irish poet.
Calling Los Angeles home these days, Holley lives a long way from her native Mississippi. The South still clearly flows through her veins, though, and it comes through in her music. She has a beautiful, mesmerizing voice – one that soars and then quiets to a hush in the same measure. She sings with effortless emotion, bringing to mind the likes of Edie Brickell, Norah Jones and Neko Case, and there’s a clarity and a simplicity to her vocals that captures you and doesn’t let you go until she’s good and ready. She has an excellent sense of timing as well, subtly quickening or slowing the cadence in unexpected ways that make the experience all the more interesting.
Holley’s lyrics are sparer than Neko Case’s, without the latter’s involved story-telling. But this is definitely a case of less being more. Her lyrics are an impressionist painting. She gives you just enough and not a single syllable more than what you need to capture the emotional essence of a time, a place, a relationship. Then she lingers and lets it sink in – “one little picture I have saved, one little picture I have saved of my wedding day.” Love, peace, solitude, melancholy – she captures it all.
There were maybe ten in attendance Wednesday night as Holley made her Little Rock debut at Sticky Fingerz. This is getting to be a troubling trend in Little Rock as more and more great acts come through the city only to be greeted by a few fortunate souls. She didn’t seem to let it disappoint, though, as she smiled and sung her way through song after satisfying song, stopping occasionally to talk and tell stories to the appreciative audience. When it was all over, she hung around to autograph copies of her new CD. Then it was off to Russellville for a video shoot Thursday and a Fayetteville performance Thursday night.
I’m glad that I got to experience a Claire Holley performance. And I’m sorry – very sorry – that you didn’t. Peace.
-G
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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