If your Monday night involved anything other than attending the Magpies show at White Water, you just might have made a mistake. The successor band to Roger Hoover & the Whiskeyhounds didn't just blow through Little Rock on their way someplace else. They came to stay awhile. And at the end of their almost 40-song set, some three-and-a-half hours after they began, when the tavern crowd, Hoover, and his gang, finally came up for air, no one regretted their decision to skip whatever it was that primetime television had to offer that night. It was indeed a remarkable show.
An indie, folk rock band from Cleveland, the heart and soul of the outfit are Justin Gorski on keys, accordian and vocals, and Roger Hoover on guitar and vocals. Dave McKean covers drums and contributes on vocals, and Chris Yohn rounds things out on bass. Gorski is a phenom on the keyboard, with a wicked and furious style that somehow manages to look both smoothly professional and almost epileptic, his free hand hanging in mid-air and twitching to some inner beat before dropping back to the keys for the next punctuated note. He seems to feel every measure of the music in his bones and project it through his expressions and mannerisms. He makes good use of dissonant sound when the song calls for it, but without carrying it to excess.
Hoover is a consummate songwriter, with a skill for interesting lyrics and clever turns of phrase - "tomorrow wears a thorny crown." He's a machine on guitar as well. There were several points in Monday night's show that his hands became a blur and I thought I saw smoke rise from the fretboard. What's more impressive is that Hoover and Gorski -- and the whole band, for that matter -- are able to pull off these theatrics and still create a tight sound, remaining acutely aware of exactly what each of the other band members is doing at any given second and synchronizing their contribution to whatever's going on almost perfectly.
Currently touring on their album Eastern Standard Time, White Water has apparently become something of a regular stop for The Magpies, who played here as recently as a few weeks ago. It seems that the band and the White Water staff comprise a sort of mutual admiration society, which is understandable. The band's sound and style fit the tavern like a glove.
The new album got a full airing Monday night, along with plenty of material from the Whiskeyhounds albums and several covers. The crowd was impressive for a weeknight, with a full floor and people lined up the stairs next to the stage as well. As the night wore on, particularly after a half-hour break late in the set, beer and shots continued to be offered up on the musical alter by worshipful tavernites eager to quench the Magpies thirst and loosen whatever musical inhibitions -- I didn't detect any -- may have existed earlier in the show. Not wanting to appear ungrateful, the band accepted and the lights kept burning until well past one o'clock. You would have thought they were about to go all night long when Hoover somewhat sheepishly announced last song.
There's lots more that could be said about these guys, but there's just one more thing I'll add. They can hold their whiskey. Check them out here.
-G
Samantha Crain is wise beyond her years. Her appearance -- youthful, diminutive, almost cherubic -- belies the intelligent singer-songwriter within. Listen to her lyrics and confident, unusual delivery and you'd swear she was a woman with twice her 21 years of age. Watch her on stage with her band, the Midnight Shivers, and you can't help but wonder -- how did a girl from Shawnee, Oklahoma, who wasn't even born until 1986, write stuff like this? And how did she develop that wonderfully strange and affected vocal style that sounds more like something out of a bygone era than from the age of mobile ring tones? These were my thoughts as I was lulled into almost comatose contentment during Crain's performance at White Water Thursday night.
The first thing you notice is her stature. This is a short girl. The stage at White Water can't be more than a foot off the floor, and when I got there, two songs into her set, the small crowd standing around towered over her. This isn't something I expected and I had to ask if this was the band or some high school opening act. But as I focused on the sounds coming from the stage any doubts that this was the band were out the window. Crain has a great voice, and it sounded right at home in the hazy, summer night atmosphere of White Water. It has a sort of resonance and harmonizes beautifully with the music mainly because it sounds almost like a musical instrument itself. Crain plays guitar and harmonica and is backed up by another guitarist, a bass player and a drummer in a spare four-piece act. They all appear to be very young but they all play with skill, delivering a nice, cohesive sound in a traditional folksy style.
Crain impresses with her easy manner and nonchalance on stage. Audience banter is clearly something that she's used to. But more impressive are the words that flow while the music's playing. "The River" tells the tale of a crazed preacher who drowns those he baptizes, and does so with a drum brush-and-harmonica sound that provides an interestingly bouncy backdrop to an odd and sinister storyline. "Traipsing Through the Aisles" has more of a light-hearted summer day feel to it, with a catchy refrain. But the highlight of Thursday night -- and I can't stress this enough -- the highlight of Thursday night -- was Crain's cover of Oasis's "Champagne Supernova." There's no topping that song in its original form. It has to be counted as among the best alternative songs of the 90s. But Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers performed it with a drum brush and a faster cadence and it became a whole other song. A very, very good song. And White Water liked it. A lot.
Crain releases a new EP July 22. The Confiscation contains only five songs, but it's worth the asking price. I would also recommend you watch for her next Little Rock appearance. I don't think we've heard the last of this girl.
-G
 Though too few people are actually aware of this, one of the great things about living in Little Rock is its access to live music. Not the over-hyped sold-out arena style, but the small venue, up close and personal performance where you can actually sense the emotion of the artist. With the obvious exception of Green Day’s alter-ego, Foxboro Hot Tubs, playing at Juanita’s, you’re not going to see the biggest acts at the several places here that offer up live music on a regular basis. But what you will find is an incredible array of talent, real talent, from those just breaking onto the scene, to the ones who are really ascending to musical success. It is becoming a weekly event now, to go to a concert without much advance knowledge of a group, only to be blown away by what you see and hear. And let me say, Friday night’s set at the White Water Tavern was certainly no exception.
What started as a decision on a rather slow Friday night to go and check out The Good Time Ramblers, a very talented local alt-country group, resulted in, from beginning to end, an unbelievable evening of entertainment. It all began with a band from Raleigh, NC, the American Aquariums, whose lead singer, BJ Barham could be described as a cross between two rough voiced balladeers, Ryan Bingham and Ben Nichols of Lucero. The music was strong, well-performed (even without female violinist Sarah Mann), and had the small but growing audience on their feet. The band had performed at White Water a couple of times before, and the affection of the group for the bar matched that of the listeners for the band.
Nathan Singleton and his Sideshow Tragedy, whom we thought would be playing last, followed with a performance with so much verve and energy that words will not fairly describe it. The Austin-based band rocked the place with what might be called their own brand of punk-laced Texas rock, but don’t try and pigeonhole this band – their musical tastes are quite diverse. Singleton is an incredible guitar player, whose Dobro looked like it had logged a lot of Texas highway miles. Even the broken string (“luckily it was the high E, so it didn’t affect me much”) couldn’t slow the virtuoso, whose youthful appearance belies his road-warrior years. And the inappropriately named Sideshow Tragedy was anything but -- bassist Justin Thompson, active and rambunctious, was just as much an integral part of the show, and it was all held together by the strong, rhythmic beat of Singleton’s long-time musical accompanist, drummer Jeremy Harrell. In this set, the audience appeared almost stunned, as though they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Only the fact that the band was returning to Austin after 2 weeks of touring prevented a trip to see them again the following night. And once more, homage was paid to Matt White and White Water, as Singleton seemed very sincere in his praise of the venue as his favorite place to play, anywhere.
Wrap all this with the Good Time Ramblers, giving you an hour and a half of self-styled “delta rock” music, including a number of covers very popular with the crowd, and you’ve had yourself a hell of a night. And oh, there was a cover charge by the way – a whopping five bucks.
So what makes a particular place so musician praiseworthy? That can be debated of course, but include the fact that the artists are accessible, that they can relate to the audience, and the audience back to them. That those attending are a diverse group, and free to be themselves. That the venue (this one in particular) bears little or no presumption – come as you are – any style, any age, any personality – just have a good time and join in the fun. There are not a lot of places like this anymore. Give me the White Water Tavern over Alltel Arena any day.
-C
Maybe it was the beer. Or maybe it was the brown-haired girl in the white summer dress. Glossary had been a disappointment with their out of tune guitars, muddy vocals and nonexistant keyboards. But then The Drams took the stage and it all got better. This wasn't the band I had intended to listen to tonight. I was going to go to Rev Room and hear Headlights and Mates of State. But I couldn't get anyone to go, and I'm not one to go hear music by myself. T was already going to hear The Drams, so my itinerary for the night changed. I wasn't exactly excited about it. I'm a little alt-country weary. I'm fairly new to the genre and I've been pouring it on thick lately, to the point that Drive-By Truckers have been the soundtrack to my dreams. It was time to take a break. But, by the end of the night, I was thoroughly enjoying myself.
The Drams hail out of Denton, Texas and are comprised mostly of members of the former band Slobberbone. They've been touring with Drive-By Truckers, playing their first studio album Jubilee Drive. They're one of the most amped-up alt-country bands I've heard in a while. Tonight was the second night of a two-night gig at White Water with Glossary. You could tell they enjoyed the crowd.
I don't know what it was with Glossary, but they sounded like they were having some major technical problems, although from the looks on their faces they were oblivious to it. They're clearly talented, and there were moments in their set which showed some promise, but I thought their performance fell short of the standard set by their studio work. It was a Glossary crowd, though, and they clearly loved it. I thought it was a nice touch when their keyboardist joined The Drams on stage and played cowbell with all the fervor of Will Ferrell. Bruce Dickinson would have been proud.
But it was a Drams night, no doubt about it.
-G
There's no place like The White Water Tavern. Little Rock is really fortunate to have it. Walking into it is like stepping back in time. It's a tavern in the truest sense of the word. Ancient wooden floors, neon signs that haven't worked in 20 years, blue ribbon beer for a buck fifty, and stage lighting so old it looks like it might have been used on the set of I Love Lucy. Matt White and company may have modernized the crowd but the setting has stood the test of time. And thank God for that.
Monday night was a great night even by White Water standards. Band of Annuals were in town from Salt Lake and they played a night's worth of fine music for no cover charge. What a deal. Describing themselves as a folk/country/rock band, their sound really is very hard to categorize. Lead vocalist Jay Henderson's voice has been likened to that of David Gray, a comparison I didn't agree with at first but on reflection is pretty accurate. The lap steel guitar is what lends the touch of country to their sound, but the keyboard takes it in a different direction. Henderson and keyboardist Jeremi Hanson (she's a girl) harmonize beautifully on vocals. The interplay between the band's mellow sound and Henderson and Hanson's harmony is really easy on the ears and, quite frankly, mesmerizing after a while. Particularly after the second blue ribbon.
After playing maybe half the set, the band members took a much-deserved break, hung out with the crowd, had a round of shots, and then it was back to the old grindstone for the second half. If you've never heard this band, I really recommend you check them out on their Myspace page and listen to a few of their songs. And if you missed this show, don't worry too much about it. They'll be coming back through sometime in late September, according to guitarist Jamie Timm.
The one complaint we always have about WWT is that the bands never seem to start anywhere near on time. That's not a problem on a Friday or Saturday night, but on Monday night...well, it makes for a helluva rough Tuesday morning. All in all, though, this band was well worth the wait. I'll be back to see them again in September.
-G
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