(Originally appeared in NUVO Newsweekly Year-end Wrap Up)
Here’s the question I get more than any other about bands and music: What do they sound like? And when I write about musicians and their music, I relay influences I hear without making it seem like a singer or a band is only that.
It’s also my job to figure out what might make them unique; why we should care about them. For 2011, what resonated was the wide swath of sound encompassed by roots music in Indianapolis, whether we call it Americana, alt-country, folk or simply American rock and roll.
I leaned on some of my favorite moments of the year. New music and concerts that resonated by pushing ahead while respecting what came before. That’s when roots-rock music is, at its best.
Best New Local Band: The Dead Hearts
Brandon Perry and his buddies put together a group of Indiana guys playing crunchy Midwest and Memphis rock and roll. They made the Q95 Next Big Thing contest, and have a look and sound that harkens back to power pop crossed with Fogerty. This is unapologetic, Petty rock.
Best Local Album: Tim Grimm – Wilderness Songs and Bad Man Ballads
Part compilation album, part new material, Grimm’s new album invites you in with his warm, conversational, roughly gorgeous voice. He keeps you listening because the songs richly describe the details of the characters who live there.
Lucky to See Them Here: Civil Wars at the Earth House
Huge. That is what they are. The success they have had this year, both critical and commercial, was on display on a sweaty July night when the duo poured beautiful harmonies into the old church. They played late in the year at a larger venue (the Egyptian Room), but this is the show that the fans will talk about in reverential terms in 10 years. It was a magical and memorable night of music for the soul.
Two Unexpectedly Great Live Shows: REO Speedwagon at Rib America and Huey Lewis at Clowes Hall
The Champaign, Ill., boys of REO turned Rib America into a sing-along that was propelled by a surprising classic rock energy from Kevin Cronin and his band. They pulled out some old stuff (“Son of a Poor Man”) that felt good, and celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Hi Infidelity album with multiple cuts from that smash. Great sound, great energy and one of the nicest surprises from an old rock band this year. Lewis, on the other hand, has partially reinvented his band as a Stax/Memphis soul and rock group. Mixing his hits with the soulful sound of the South, Lewis thrilled a Clowes Hall crowd, looked good and proved how you can maintain your integrity as a performer 20 years after your most recent hit song.
Guitar Player Taking it National: Thom Daugherty
Fresh from the breakup of The Elms, Daugherty has done some production work and caught on as a sideman/guitarist with the uber-hot The Band Perry. As the DVD/album “The Last Band on Earth” shows, the guitarist and his crunchy chords were a large part of the legacy of The Elms. He has taken that start and vaulted himself to a place that takes him on a cross-country trek, meeting some of his heroes and allowing him to play for more people than The Elms ever did.
Last Time Around For Two Legends: George Jones at the Murat, and Glen Campbell at the Palladium
Campbell is wrapping up his career with a tour and battling Alzheimer’s disease, while George is simply an old guy who has lived nine lives. Both revisited their hits for audiences that sensed they were watching history.
Maybe Not The Last Time: Bob Seger at Conseco Fieldhouse
His show in May was a greatest hits extravaganza, but how could it not be, with his ubiquitous radio status? He forgot the words to “Turn the Page” and laughed it off. That’s because the other two and a half hours were filled with the rock and roll soundtrack of the lives of any rock fan between the ages of 35 and 60. Seger tours without a flashy stage set up – no big screens, no lasers, no fire bombs. He just brings the band and rock and rolls like it’s 1980. God bless Bob Seger. He’s back out on the road and putting a new album together.
roots rock twang news
Review: Dan Zanes and Friends at Hilbert Circle Theater
Dan Zanes and Friends
at Hilbert Circle Theatre
4 stars
While the audience was dotted with young kids brought to the show by parents, the music of Dan Zanes performed at the Hilbert Circle Theater on Sunday was children’s music in name only.
In truth, Zanes, the former singer and songwriter for the 80’s Boston roots/rock band The Del Fuegos, makes music for anyone who will listen. It’s organic, homegrown folk and rock and whatever else you want to call music that is made by five people playing guitars, violin, mandolin, upright bass, drums, and other various instruments.
His 17-song, 70-minute set highlighted his ten solo children’s albums, including a healthy helping from the 2007 Grammy Award winning (for Best Musical Album for Children) record called Catch That Train!
From the time he led the band down the aisle to the stage singing “Lead the Way” and until he exited the same way, one thing was obvious: Zanes is a former rocker who has made a twist to his music to make it more accessible to a different audience. He still leaps and kicks and strikes rock star poses. He shimmies and dances and leads the crowd in singalongs. At one point early in the show he mentioned the theater was “a great place for a concert, if you want to sit and have a concert”, or the audience could choose to have a wild dance party. Cheers from the audience led them to move and dance and come closer to the stage.
The opening “Let’s Shake” and “The Fine Friends are Here” from Catch That Train! recalled the guitar sound of his old rock band, while successfully getting the party started.
Zanes, dressed in a black jacket with orange stripes, and orange shirt and brown corduroy pants, dipped into his new album, Little Nut Tree, while also pulling out some older favorites from the catalogue, including the upbeat “Jump Up” from 2001’s Family Dance.
The rocker, who I first saw when the Del Fuegos were the first of three bands on a Tom Petty bill in Detroit in the late 80’s, still has rock and roll energy. He also has an endearing habit of clicking his heels together à la Dorothy when he is particularly into the music.
After the sixth song, Zanes told a story of his appearance in Indianapolis three years ago when he began working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Youth Orchestra for the first time. That experience led him to start the same tradition in other cities. He brought out the kids in the orchestra again to accompany him. They remained on stage for the rest of the show, lending depth and beauty to his performance.
A later show highlight included a performance of “Pay Me My Money Down.” The tune can also be found on Bruce Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions album from a few years ago.
The set closed with more music from House Party Time, a joyous version of “Go Down Emmanuel Road,” and a gorgeous performance of “Sweet Rosyanne.”
LIVE WEBCAST – Truth and Salvage Co. – Sunday, August 28.
Truth & Salvage Co. is getting into the on-the-web live concert game with a webcast on Sunday (August 28), as part of what they are calling a “Backyard BBQ”. GOod chance to see what they can do with it and how loose the band will be…love these guys and the harmonies, gritty guitars, Hammond B3 sound – and that one of them is from Indiana.
T&Sco. will be in Indy next weekend for a show on September 3, at 4:15pm (Saturday) during Rib America.
WEBCAST: August 28th at 3pm
www.truthandsalvageco.com
www.honeymoonismusic.com
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X28oSbuTAEw&]
Indiana Music: Catching up with Rusty Bladen
For the past 20 years, Indiana roots-rocker Rusty Bladen has made his living playing shows between Indianapolis and Louisville. He takes the occasional trip anywhere else someone pays enough for him to load up his white van, to play a private party, bar gig or Saturday night campground blowout.
Bladen’s musical ground is the area between a cover song highway going one direction, and an original tunes road going the other. The Madison-based singer/songwriter, whose energetic live show has carried his career, has released seven albums of his own music. His live show mixes those songs with a healthy helping of “Brown-Eyed Girl”, “Jack and Diane” and more obscure-but-meaningful country-rock tunes
He knows it’s the live show that pays the bills. But Bladen has a strong sense of his own happiness, and that is how his show artfully makes room for his own tunes. Maybe the best description of who he is came from the Kentucky Headhunters, headliners for a show that Bladen opened for them, who complimented him with a description as a “hillbilly Tom Petty”.
ROB: You’ve been playing to Indiana music fans for more than 20 years. How do you still do it, and what is the key to having some local and regional success?
RUSTY BLADEN: Just like one of my favorite songwriters, Guy Clark said, “It’s gotta come from the heart if you want it to work.” I just do what I do and fortunately for me, a lot of people like it. I am so grateful to the folks who support my music. I can’t think of a more rewarding way to make a living than playing music. Independent artists have to work hard at promoting their music. One key to longevity is to balance the music with plenty of family time, avoid burning out, and taking care of your health.
ROB: You played with Jennie Devoe at Rathskeller on July 15. How did that come about?
RB: I met Jenny in the late ‘90’s when she was singing backing vocals for Larry Crane. I was opening for Larry one night in Indianapolis when, midway through my show, I heard this beautiful voice harmonizing with me. I looked over my shoulder and there was Jennie. We’ve been friends ever since.
ROB: How’s do you see the Indiana scene for folk/Americana/alt-country performers?
RB: Indiana’s live music scene, in general, is getting better. Live music is more valuable now than ever before. A lot of recorded music can be downloaded free on the internet. But you can’t download the experience of standing three feet from a performer, pouring his heart out for you in the flesh. You can’t download one-on-one eye contact and the personal interaction between a performer and an audience.
ROB: How do you use new media and social media to stay ahead, since those things weren’t around when you started playing shows?
RB: Facebook is a must for any serious artist. In the old days, we spent days hanging up posters in store windows and on telephone poles. Now you can reach ten times as many people with the click of a mouse. My website has been very valuable. Club owners and talent buyers don’t have to leave their office or home — they can see what I sound like and what kind of show I put on by watching videos at rustybladen.com. I also have plans to begin a “Live In The Living Room” webcast on Wednesday nights where I’ll sit chat with friends online and play songs, sometimes solo and sometimes with other guest musicians.
ROB: What have you been listening to? Any music that excites you? Performers you have recently seen?
RB: J. Roddy Walston, Ponderosa, Brett Dennen, and Hayes Carll are some of the new artists that I really like.
ROB: When you record, how do you do it? Are you at home? Studio?
RB: In the past never I recorded many demos. I’d write, rehearse, then hit the studio to make a record. I recently bought a Zoom H4 hand held digital recorder that is amazing. I’m currently performing a couple of new original songs. One was written with Mickey Clark called “Bakersfield Wine”, which placed 3rd out of 1,500 songs in this year’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest in North Carolina.
ROB: What concerts from others have you seen recently that resonated with you?
RB: Robert Randolph and the Family Band. They are loaded with talent and soul. See them when you get a chance. You’ll be blown away.
ROB: What’s ahead for you in the next year?
RB: Lots of live shows and lots of miles on the road between Indiana and Florida. I am signing people up at my shows and at my web site for a drawing to win free house party concert where I go the winner’s house and play a private show for them and their friends. It’s a great way to meet new people and I have a lot of fun. I’m also writing some new songs and arranging some songs from my recent live solo acoustic album, Homegrown Treasures, to be recorded in the studio with a full band that includes some of John Mellencamp’s band members.
Roots/Rock Notes: BoDeans, Otis Gibbs, Will Hoge
First, let’s share a quick photo:Indiana’s Otis Gibbs was at the Grand Ole Opry, and snuck backstage while Ricky Skaggs and Deirks Bentley were on stage to snap a stealth photo.
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Some new music news from two longtime bands that Indianapolis roots-rock fans have supported as well as any city has:
Will Hoge’s new single “When I Get My Wings” was unveiled this week, from his upcoming record Number Seven. That album will be available on September 27th. The single, a soulful, Stax-rific piece of Hoge soul, hit radio August 1st.
Will Hoge – “When I Get My Wings” by Rykodisc
“The song was inspired by a story I read in the Tennessean obituaries about a lady who had passed away and left her husband behind,” Hoge told American Songwriter. “They were married for like 60 years or something. I just started thinking about what the husband must have gone through, trying to make sense of living life without her.”
“The original version was a bluegrass song that came together in probably an hour or so,” remembers Hoge. “The story and lyrics remained the same, but the final version was re-written and re-recorded the final day of tracking. So, in some ways I guess it took an hour to start and a year to finish.”
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The BoDeans (Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann) co-wrote all 13 songs on their new release Indigo Dreams. Michael Ramos (keyboards), Bukka Allen (accordion), Kenny Aronoff and Noah Levy (drums) also play on the record. Similar in style to their three most recent studio albums, Resolution, Still and Mr. Sad Clown.
BoDeans – “Blowin’ My Mind” (from KINK Radio in Portland, OR)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/UABYMxmHyCI?]
VIDEO: Butch Walker – Live "Summer of '89"
What is a Butch Walker? A nuevo Springsteen? Bryan Adams? Beck? None of the above? All of them?
Here’s what I think he is: pop/rock and roll for 2011. He’s got a new album coming August 30, his second album with the Black Widows, called The Spade.
Below is a live acoustic version of the first single,”Summer of ’89”, a sly rip-off /rewrite and ode to “Summer of ’69″…in the tune, he either makes fun of Adams, pays homage to Adams, or makes fun of himself. Or maybe all three.
I am digging his live energy, his fun, and the throwback tunes that get nice and loud. We need pop rock and roll. Think Bryan adams, Georgia Satellites and a bit of every rock band that loses itself in the music played live on stage. Country music shouldn’t own this genre. And even if this particluar cut is a bit similar musically to the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl”, I am good with it anyway…
And hang on through the first couple minutes of the video; he calls his parents and it has a pretty good payoff…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivHcxOhbV10&feature=related]