September 16, 2003

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P-A Dutch and they don't know much...

Filed under: Imported

I have to be honest, I've never been to Philadelphia, or, the state of Pennsylvania for that matter. But, as it has been described to me both in word and song, I think there's a lot of overlap between there and places like New Prague, St. Peter, and Mankato, places I have been. And I had to scan my mushy brain pan for those sensibilities to get myself around my Frog Holler collection. On my radio show's web site, I describe Frog Holler as a band you have to listen to about a thousand times before they sneak up on ya. I stand by that with their latest disk, Railings. In fact, I held off blogging this disk because I knew I had to listen to it at least 20 times to make up something in my own mind about it, long before it arrived in the mail and I opened it.

There's a kind of beef stew, head-cold reality to Frog Holler's music. It sounds like it's wrapped in a blanket with a steamy bowl of something nearby. Remember the Little House where it snowed like, 10 feet, and Pa had to dig a path to the barn? Yeah, me too. I think about stuff like that when I listen to Railings. Which is not to say there is nothing "urban" about their music; it was recorded in Philly after all. There's just a lot of German-hillbilly-in-the-big-city wholesomeness to the way they play, regardless of what the songs might say lyrically. Kind of like a rerun of the old Kato Barndance.

I don't know...maybe I still need to listen 20 more times. Or maybe I need to do one of my favorite little tricks these days...

If you have some MP3 software like MusicMatch JukeBox, put all of a band's studio albums into it, then load all the records and hit "shuffle." It's an interesting way to hear how artists change, yet stay the same over 3 or 4 albums. Frog Holler's earlier work, Adams Hotel Road and Idiots are good for that kind of stuff. In fact, I would highly recommend starting with Adams and Idiots before getting to Railings. Kind of a deal where you have to know where they've been before you know where they're going.

At any rate, if you're looking to get a good taste of P-A Dutch, Alt Twang, hillbilly yelping, Frog Holler is a great place to start.

Favorite songs on Railings:
2. Virginia
6. Suit & Tie
8. About Time
12. Hole in the Ground

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Posted by Jack Sparks at September 16, 2003 3:32 PM

 

My hometown...

Filed under: Imported

It's hard to believe anything you read anymore these days, but enough people have written about whether First Avenue is in trouble that it makes me scratch my unshaven face and wonder....hmmmmm.

In the next week and a half however, everyone has the opportunity to see why this club is one of the best I've been in in America, why many people want to play there, and why you should be spending a little time there each month instead of that fucking eyesore, Block E, across the street.

Tomorrow night, in the Mainroom, The Reverend Horton Heat will be appearing with BR549 and Throwrag.

After I posted my ten greatest guitarists list a few weeks ago, a friend of mine and I got in a discussion about who the best "club act" guitarists were that we had seen. After gnawin' and chewin' on it for a couple of minutes, I threw out several names. But it was pretty clear to me that David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and Jim Heath of the Reverend Horton Heat were probably the best two on my list. You're pretty much guaranteed a few things when you see Reverend Horton Heat at First Avenue: 1) The crowd will be pumped; it's like they own the joint when they take the stage. This is a crowd that will be overly polite and attentive to whoever opens for the band; and then, all the tattoos, pomade, and filterless cigarettes will turn into a flat-out mob. 2) Jimbo will beat the shit out of his bass. 3) Jim will choke the shit out of his guitar. 4) You will walk out of there in a full sweat, even if you just stand there quietly watching.

BR549 has undergone some lineup changes that should make this an interesting show. I hate to play favorites, but Chuck Mead (from Lawrence, Kansas) was always my preference of the two lead singers in the original lineup. Chuck's another one of those guys who really knows his way around a guitar. But, he's the kind of guy who understates what he does, putting his Gretsch into the soup only when it's called for by the recipe of the song. About five years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find a better country band in America than BR549, the stories of what they would do at Robert's Western Wear store are legendary. But, they were chewed up and spit out by the morons in the suits in Nashville, and the morons in the glasses with the pencils at Country radio, and now we'll just have to see what's left. I'm betting on leaner and meaner.

Neil Cleary and Amy Allison from New York will bring their downhome songwriting sensibilities into the 7th Street Entry, the little club that could, on Thursday night, and I'm personally excited to see this show. They'll have Mark Spencer of Jay Farrar's inner circle and the Blood Oranges with them, which should up the show's instrumentality a few notches. There are about umpteen million roots songwriters plying their trade around America somewhere other than Nashville and the ones out of the East always bring a little something extra to the party when they float through town. Cleary's latest album, Numbers Add Up is really good songwriter fare. He can play just about every instrument known to man, and does, on this disk. He's made a name playing drums for a lot of folks, and his ear for rhythm really shines through on this disk, each arrangement really adding to the mood he's trying to evoke with each song. Allison's latest disk, No Frills Friend, was recorded in Scotland and it really sneaks up on you, the more you listen to it. Fans of Kasey Chambers will dig her work just because they sound so much alike. But Allison's lyrics are much darker, really cutting at the gritty aspects of human relationships. Producer David Scott did a beautiful job helping her record this disk.

If you don't know who these guys are, go away. They will be in the mainroom on Saturday, the 20th. A local mainstream DJ and I were talking at Lee's about 2 weeks ago, and we both laughed because this band has its own little mafia here in town, and probably deservedly so. First Avenue's mainstage is where they belong, and seeing them there is really special if you've never taken the time to do it. Their trademark harmonies really ring off the walls in the ol' girl and the crowd is like any division contender's home ballpark.

Next Wednesday, the reinventer of Alt Country, Jay Farrar will hit the stage. The wild-eyed hillbilly hyperbole probably gets overdone a little bit, but, you should go see Jay Farrar because if you had been a club-goer in the late sixties and early seventies, you should have gone to see Gram Parsons. Jay probably lives rather comfortably off all the Uncle Tupelo nostalgia, but he's still grinding out the deepest Americana music. And make no mistake, Uncle Tupelo was the most important Country Band of the late 80's and early 90's. Any gritty, rootsy, grungy vibes that are sneaking their way into Country now are because they did it first. He shies away from the Tupelo and Son Volt stuff on his solo tours, but it's still Jay; and, he'll take you on a sonic tour that'll really vibrate your sinuses and adjust your spine if ya let him.

Posted by Jack Sparks at September 16, 2003 7:54 AM

 

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