Maria's Benefit Baby Shower @ the High Note Cafe (3/10/13)

I found out about this show a couple of weeks before it happened.  As soon as I did, I marked it down on the calendar.  Local musician Dale Cavanaugh had set up this deal to help out Maria Bahruth, who owns the High Note Cafe and is expecting twins.  As a big fan of the High Note Cafe--they serve good food and host good musicians--I wanted to show my support in my own small way.

I got to the High Note at about 3:45 pm.  There were only eight people when I arrived, but that was okay--plenty of folks came and went over the five hours that I spent there.  I sat in the back, did my best not to drink too much of the free Red Chair and watched Maria Bahruth walk around serving food and chatting with the customers.  Man, what a trooper.

Musicians I saw:

Kayleigh Jack: Aside from last year's Leonard Cohen Birthday Bash at the Record Exchange, I'd never seen her play solo before.  She'd definitely be worth seeing again.  Her sultry, bluesy voice did right by both her well-schooled originals and her sharp covers (who woulda thought that Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" would make such a great bluegrass song?).  Nice little moment: when her brother called in the middle of her set, Kayleigh Jack answered, set the phone on the music stand and kept singing.  Just hope she has weekend minutes.

James Coberly Smith and LeeAnn Town: I'd wanted to see this duo for a while.  Smith has an interesting history, and he's been doing commendable work with his TVCTV show Boise Song Talk (check it out here).  As it turned out, he's not too shabby a songwriter himself: funny, tender, spunky, political in an agreeably strident way.  His smooth, slightly nasal baritone knew how to handle the songs too.  Meanwhile, Town's gorgeous harmonies called to mind Emmylou Harris, and her terse guitar solos called to mind Don Rich or Ron Wood.  She had some songwriting chops as well: her bluesy "Dirt," which mixed gardening with geopolitical conflict, earned some whoops and hollers from the crowd.

Lee Penn Sky: I'd figured he had more good songs than the one he played at that Idaho Songwriters Open Mic.  He proved me right.  Given the circumstances, the heartwarmer that he wrote after learning that his wife was expecting their first kid was especially appropriate (the number of families in the crowd at that point made me smile).  Penn Sky's gritty, rich baritone and good sense of rhythm did nicely by John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" too.  This set also featured Kayleigh Jack on fiddle and harmonies on a couple of numbers.

Dale Cavanaugh: Seeing as how he'd organized this show, I might've given him a pass even if he'd played a whole set of Barry Manilow covers.  His set of John Prine covers worked much, much better for me, though.    I appreciated his dedicating "Please Don't Bury Me" to all organ donors, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I sang along to "Illegal Smile."

Whitaker and Oliver: Glad I wasn't too hyperbolic in my last write-up on this duo.  Mary Beth Whitaker's warm, lustrous voice reminded me once again of Sandy Denny or Joan Baez.  I can't recall Denny or Baez sounding sexy, however, and on a couple of jazzy, insouciant numbers, Whitaker most certainly did.  Meanwhile, Scot Oliver's finely weathered croon and deft, elegant guitar work held up his end of the deal.  Their originals sounded just fine next to their beautiful Bob Dylan and Mindy Smith covers.

Johnny Shoes: This gentleman's dry, friendly vocals and sly, detailed, lived-in songs both sounded in fine form.    I especially liked "Whisper in the Wind," a number about the past and present of Idaho that called to mind Carl Sandburg if not Walt Whitman.  You'll get a chance to hear it soon enough: Johnny Shoes told the crowd that "Whisper" had made it onto the upcoming Boise 150 song compliation.

You can find info on these artists and the High Note Cafe on Facebook and elsewhere online.

Finn Riggins, And And And and Little Tiny Little People @ Neurolux; the Hardluck Cowboys @ the High Note Cafe (12/8/12)

This show interested me because it featured the return of yet another Treefort alumnus, And And And, and a headlining set by Finn Riggins, who probably don't need an introduction.  Part of me was tempted to head across the street from Neurolux and check out the Idaho Songwriters Association show at the Gamekeepers Lounge.  I'd already made arrangements to attend this one, however, and I figure that a man oughtta honor his commitments.  Besides, I can't complain much about seeing Finn Riggins again.

Apparently, not many others can complain either.  I counted around seventy people when I made it down to Neurolux.  By the time that Finn Riggins played, there had to have been well over a hundred.

Kicking off the show was a new local group, Little Tiny Little People.  Their music proved about as cutesy-poo as their name: fragile vocals, jaunty folk melodies, gently swinging beat, pleasant trumpet and straight-ahead, down-strummed guitar.  Maybe a bit too twee for my taste, but not bad.  At least they've got a decent drummer.  Also, the crowd certainly didn't seem to mind.  Especially the ladies--got a little swaying going.

And And And played next.  This Portland band's jangly drones, whooshing distortion, bouncy basslines, malleable drumming and solemn trumpet all sounded as pleasant as I remembered.  Unfortunately, Nathan Baumgartner's pitch-challenged whine also sounded as irritating as I remembered.  Don't get me wrong, I got nothing against pitch-challenged whines in themselves (I'm a huge Neil Young fan, remember).  The rub, I think, lay in a certain smug insularity that seemed to lurk behind it.  The man sounded too cool or too bored to bother with staying on key.  Just as it did at Treefort, however, the music saved the day.  And this night, it got help from some trippy, creepy montages from antimagic, which helped give the set a 90's alt-rock video feel.

Finn Riggins took the stage next.  It occurred to me that up until this show, this group hadn't played a headlining slot around these parts in a while.  They took the opportunity to stretch out and experiment, tossing in some marimba, some moaning and screeching distortion, some dub-like echo and some extended instrumental passages.  No matter how far-out the music got, however, the songwriting and the playing held it all together.  Aside from a slight stumble and some unintentional feedback in the middle of the set, all three members brought their A+ game.  The videos playing on the screen behind them, which came courtesy of antimagic and others, knocked the energy level up a couple of extra notches (I especially liked the dancing children and elementary school paintings for "Benchwarmers" and the 8-bit incarnations of FR for "Big News").  The mix of sound and vision whipped the crowd into a nice frenzy--lots of dancing and cheering.  Overall, an outstanding performance.  I just wish I had a picture of the little dancing miniature of himself that Eric Gilbert placed on his synthesizer.

After Finn Riggins wrapped up, I headed over to the High Note Cafe to catch part of the set by the Hardluck Cowboys a.k.a. local musicians Johnny Shoes and Speedy Gray.  It was a great pleasure to hear these gentlemen trade songs and solos again (especially in Johnny Shoes's case--hadn't seen him in way too long), but it was an even greater pleasure to see a solid crowd of people applauding the same.  Speedy Gray unveiled a song from his upcoming solo album, Z.V. House and Karen Singletary stepped up to play a couple of numbers, a young musician did some pretty good Tom Petty covers and Johnny Shoes wrapped his sly, weathered vocals around my favorite Townes Van Zandt song, "To Live is to Fly."  A wonderful coda to my night: warm, loose, collegial.

You can find info on these acts on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Eric Gilbert and Duck Club Presents.

Return of the Hardluck Cowboys @ the Crux (5/18/12)

There's something appropriate, I suppose, in calling yourselves the Hardluck Cowboys and performing to an almost empty place.  Nonetheless, it's still pretty sad.

A few folks popped in and out as the evening progressed, but the only people to watch the entirety of Speedy Gray and Johnny Shoes' set at the Crux last Friday were the man behind the counter and me.  You could blame the lack of an audience on the ban on serving alcohol under which the Crux suffers currently.  The numerous pedestrians who stopped for a moment to watch through the window and listen may suggest that you'd be right.  It'd be nice to see the Crux's business pick up after the ban's lifted.  If not sooner.

Anyway, if the Cowboys were upset over the absence of people, they didn't show it.  For about two and a half hours, they tossed songs, solos, stories and bad jokes back and forth.  Please note, though, that when I use the word "tossed," I do not mean "tossed off."  These two gentlemen turned in a solid performance even though there were only two people watching them (and I doubt that it was because I mentioned that I'd be writing about them).  I can't say the same about some of the younger musicians that I've seen.

While I've written a fair amount about Speedy Gray's guitar playing and singing, I haven't given much space to his songwriting.  I first noticed the cleverness of his songcraft when I heard "Tea Party" at Tom Grainey's.  I grinned at the way that he borrowed the chord changes from John Cougar Mellencamp's "Rockin' In the USA" to emphasize the middle finger that he shoots at the titular political group.  I suppose that quite a few of Speedy's songs (the ones that I've heard so far, anyway) are like that: they seem simple and off-hand, but listening closely reveals their careful construction.  Just as often, though, he'll dispense with subtlety and go right for the knockout: highlights from this night's set included his songs about his mother passing away, a musician preparing to stomp the hell out of the club owner who just ripped him off and a man trapped indefinitely in a Louisiana jail after Hurricane Katrina destroys the paperwork on his arrest.

Speedy's partner, Johnny Shoes, is a man who knows from hard luck.  He ran the Old Boise Guitar Company for 26 years before changes in the economy forced him to close it in 2010.  He'd played guitar for much of his life, according to a 2009 Boise Weekly article that I came across, but he didn't start writing songs until 2008.  I find that awfully surprising, because aside from the Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan and Louvin Brothers songs that he pulled out, I wouldn't have known his wry, warm originals from his wry, warm covers if he hadn't said who wrote what.

Of course, it probably helped having a wealth of experience to draw upon when he turned to writing and performing full-time.  During a brief break, he graciously spoke to me about his experiences travelling with renowned folksinger Rosalie Sorrels collecting songs and stories for the 1991 book Way Out In Idaho.  He told me that he helped break the ice between Sorrels and the people whom they were trying to interview: some guy getting up and playing mandolin with this legendary performer made it easier for folks to open up.  He went on to perform on three of Sorrels' albums and as part of her band at the Vancouver Folk Festival.  Listening to him, I suspected that he had truckloads of other stories to tell if he'd had the time.

I wrote that the first Hardluck Cowboys gig "was so great that it felt downright criminal being the only person there to see it."  This one was no different.  Johnny Shoes delivered stunning guitar solos throughout and sang in a voice that suited his songs perfectly: weathered, resilient, knowing.  I don't know if anybody at the Record Exchange's upcoming Bob Dylan's 71st Birthday Bash will be able to top his and Speedy's night-ending cover of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."

You can find info about Speedy Gray and Johnny Shoes on Facebook and elsewhere online.  They gig regularly around Boise and Meridian.  I recommend seeing them (together or separately) if you're at all able to.

PS  Special thanks to Speedy Gray for the use of his digital camera.

The Hardluck Cowboys @ the Crux; Dark Swallows, The Gunfighters, Range Life and Annex Madly @ the VAC (5/4/12)

This was a busy night.  I don't usually shift between two venues or shows (the big exception so far being Treefort), but I wanted to show my support for Speedy Gray, who was playing a show at the Crux with local musician Johnny Shoes, and for Keesha Renna, whose Vagabond Promotions set up a solid bill at the VAC.  Man, who woulda thought that being a hipster/ poseur would be so much damn work?


My first stop for the evening was the Crux.  Both Speedy and Johnny Shoes apparently lost a gig, which prompted them to put together this one-off show under the name The Hardluck Cowboys.  I stayed for a little over an hour, and I wish that I could've been there longer.  Playing without his compatriots in Like A Rocket, Speedy Gray got to demonstrate just how fine a singer he really is.  On his quietly devastating cover of "Sunday Morning Coming Down," he channeled Willie Nelson right down to the conversational, just-behind-the-beat phrasing.  As for Johnny Shoes, he proved himself a songwriter and performer cut from the same cloth as Guy Clark and John Prine (both of whom he's opened for, according to his Facebook page).  For the 75 or so minutes that I watched them, they traded stories, jokes, songs and solos like they'd played together for years.  It was so great that it felt downright criminal being almost the only person there to see it.  I did note, however, that a lot of pedestrians passing by the Crux slowed their pace a bit to rubberneck.

I noticed quite a few cars in the parking lot when I arrived at the VAC.  That boded well, I thought, for the bands playing, for the VAC and for my friend Keesha.  That's the spirit, people!

I got inside just in time to catch the tail-end of Dark Swallows' set.  They sounded in particularly good form this night, and some smoke and lasers created just the right ominous atmosphere for their music.  The little bit of their set that I saw confirmed for me that, much as I like Le Fleur, I prefer this group just a little more: to my ears, they've got a stronger beat, stronger riffs and especially stronger melodies.

Next up after Dark Swallows was the Gunfighters, a local six-person rock band who decided to film their set for use in a music video.  After listening to Speedy Gray and Johnny Shoes, the traces of blues and rockabilly in this group's music felt a little cosmetic.  However, I couldn't complain much about these folks, considering that they came equipped with solid melodies, pleasant harmonies, outstanding guitar solos and a funky rhythm section (the drummer's a monster with that hi-hat).

(Note: There were a LOT more people at the VAC than this picture suggests.  They were all just hanging back by the bar and hiding from the lights and the camera.)

After the Gunfighters came Range Life.  This marked the third time that I've seen this local group, and it was easily the best yet.  The extra oomph that they put into in their minimalistic rhythms, artfully artless singing and jangling, droning guitar interplay made clear that their sound stems not from a lack of ability but from conscious artistic choices.  It also made clear to me that, while their music definitely owes a debt to groups like Pavement, Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground, its true precursor is one of my all-time favorite groups (and a precursor of two of the bands that I just named, incidentally), Neil Young and Crazy Horse.  The unprojected vocals did make it hard to hear the lyrics, but the sure-fire tunes and razor-sharp soloing encouraged me to lean closer.  I'll look forward to seeing this group again and watching them develop further.

Closing out the night was local group Annex Madly, whose multi-textured, polyrhythmic rock and mysterioso light show owed something to bands like Nine Inch Nails.  My phone's crappy camera proved unequal to the task of capturing the darkened stage, the strobelights and the laser beams, so unfortunately, I don't have a picture of their set.  Maybe it's just as well--you might just need to see them live to get the full effect.

These guys had samples, noises, riffs, hooks and tunes galore.  The only thing that held them back was their singing, which I found at once too obtrusive and not obtrusive enough.  Music like this needs a belter/screamer like Trent Reznor to spearhead it or a gentle warbler like Bernard Sumner to stay out of its way.  Annex Madly's vocals seemed to insist on their own distinct identity, which I thought broke some of the spell that the music and lights tried to create.  All the same, the group's set was impressive and provided a good ending to the concert.

You can find info about Speedy Gray, Johnny Shoes, the groups who played the VAC and Vagabond Promotions on Facebook.