What do you get when you throw together five guys from Cleveland, Ohio, a plethora of instruments, and White Water Tavern? The answer is simple. You get a show with the Magpies. Comprised of Roger Hoover, the brothers McKean, Chris Yohn on bass, and multi-instrumentalist Justin Gorski, The Magpies are phenomenal. They are a mix of indie and folk rock, but have a flair for the exceptional. Hoover’s voice is loud, clear, & quite distinctive. However, I feel the one who steals the scenes is Gorski. I have never seen a more enthusiastic and spasmodic keyboardist/accordion player. Prior to all of this, I never fully understood WWT’s extreme love for them, but after seeing them two nights in a row, I fully appreciate the love that is fostered there for them. You may have heard of Roger Hoover before because he used to play with his band The Whiskeyhounds. However, the name has changed and while I’m sure their love of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages still runs deep, I like the name they have settled on. They steal the hearts of their audiences, and I think it’s fitting because in several folklore cultures Magpies are considered thieves. Nonetheless, these men come out to put on a show and they have not disappointed me in the least the last three times I have seen them.
I’m not sure who pulled what strings but the Magpies played at WWT on January 5 & 6. They have told me the love to play in Little Rock, so I don’t think it was too terribly hard to persuade them to play here. The first of the two shows started a bit late, but went well after 1 am. I was hoping they would play longer like the previous time I had seen them, but I couldn’t complain because I knew they would play the next night.
So that brings me to January 6th. The guys played happy hour at WWT. I actually did not know that there was a happy hour there, but it makes sense. Anyways, they played two sets worth of material, took an extended break and played later as back up for Doug McKean. Doug also plays with his backup band The Stuntmen. However, he seems to always find time on the side for the Magpies. McKean played for about forty minutes and the guys took a well-deserved break. They came back later as the Magpies and played for around forty minutes. However no one who was there was disappointed in the least.
This just leads me in to my next epic, late night journey at WWT. As 1:30 am rolled around, last call was made and the usual attempts to kick people out were relatively successful. By 2ish there were still about ten or so people still there. We all migrated to the bar and pretty much decided it was too quiet. So we convinced Doug and Justin to grab the accordion and guitar to entertain us. They happily obliged and things quickly turned in to a two hour jam session.
Gorski kept playing Motown much to everyone’s delight. I recall off the top of my head that “My Girl” and “Under the Boardwalk” were played. They played a lot of other songs, but nothing beat the rendition of Jim Croce’s, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” Those of us not playing instruments either tapped the tip jars, the tambourine that was floating around, or our beer bottles along to the beat. Everyone was getting really in to it and singing along. I could not have asked for a better time. I went in to those shows knowing none of the guys, but after an evening like that, I feel as if we bonded, and I cannot wait until they grace White Water again in the hopefully near future.
--L
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