Brown Bird and The Devil Makes Three

Although the Back Tracks Twitter page (@BackTracksMusic) has been reasonably active for the past year, it has been quite some time since I have written a full blog post about a show.

On Friday, amidst an eerily quiet BU campus on holiday, the Paradise Rock Club hosted what could only be described as a modern day hootenanny featuring Brown Bird and The Devil Makes Three.  Due to the nightmares of parking on Comm Ave, I wandered into the show 15 minutes late and tragically missed most of Brown Bird’s set – a shame since I am a huge fan of their album Salt for Salt and had hoped to hear most of it live.  We squished into the sardine-can-packed, sold-out show while the band ran through a song from their upcoming album, due to be released in April 2013. 

Having finally infiltrated the sea of bearded folkies, we were thrilled to have arrived just in time to hear the only instrumental track off Brown Bird’s 2011 album.  A multi-layered piece with Middle Eastern vibes, “Shiloh” opened to high-spirited revelry from the crowd.  Who knew an instrumental would be one of the most beloved tracks on an up-and-coming folk album?  Brown Bird exceeds expectations and rarely disappoints.  The guitar mastery of Dave Lamb and violin virtuosity of MorganEve Swain both captivated the flannel-clad crowd and raised the bar for all the other “opening acts” out there in the folk scene.

Brown Bird’s set concluded with the title track from their most recent album, “Salt for Salt,” yet another rousing modal melody complete with a chanting chorus for which the audience joined in while bobbing up and down.  It was stuck in my head for the rest of the night.

There was hardly an interlude before The Devil Makes Three arrived on stage for the second half of the show.  They’re known to some as a “folk punk” trio, but to me, an untrained listener hearing the band for the very first time, the trio possessed a more classic country sound, with a much more formula-driven repertoire than Brown Bird.  Their lyrics, echoing the rabble-rousing anthems of outlaw country legends, kept the boozed-up crowd jumping up and down to the two-step bass.  Among the crowd favorites were an ode to Jack Daniels Whiskey entitled “Old Number Seven,” and the sharply reminiscent cutting-your-teeth tale “For Good Again.” 

The Devil Makes Three put on a fantastic show for anyone with a twang of country in their heart.  Guitarist Pete Bernhard, bassist Lucia Turino and guitar/banjo player Cooper McBean’s vocal harmonies were superb, especially in the chorus of “Help Yourself”: “Well now I ain’t no preacher / no preacher man’s son / I done some bad things, but / I like to have my fun.”  It’s clear that every member is multi-talented and that they have each made their own niche in the band.  While Bernhard serves as the emcee and the voice of the band, McBean fills in all the gaps with his fast and furious finger-picking melodies and Turino keeps the lively oom-pah beat.  For three people, they sure make a lot of noise.

For me, the best surprise of the entire evening was The Devil Makes Three’s encore performance of the American classic “St. James Infirmary.”  Dynamic and daring, it rivaled even my favorite versions of the song, performed by far more established artists.  Swinging through the classic tune and adding their own twangs along the way, the energetic trio proved to a crowd of twenty-somethings that they’re ready to carry the legacy of American folk music.

The Devil Makes Three’s east coast tour with Brown Bird wraps up New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia.

http://www.thedevilmakesthree.com

http://brownbird.net/

The Supersuckers, Nashville Pussy, and Sasquatch & The Sickabillies

This past weekend the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge hosted a rock n’ roll show consisting of three bands that are all headliners in their own right.  I went to see Sasquatch & The Sickabillies, a band I’ve always loved, being a New England girl, and hadn’t seen in a long time.  But, this was a Sickabillies show like no other, as the psychobilly  trio opened for hard rock legends Nashville Pussy and the “greatest rock n’ roll band in the world,” the Supersuckers.

The Sickabillies set the night off properly, shying away from that dreaded “rockabilly” label given to all bands whose lead singer has a pompadour.  Lead vocalist and guitarist Sasquatch, with his throaty, driving vocals and superb guitar prowess concocted a set combining country, punk, and metal into a raw, raunchy fusion of rock n’ roll ideology.  Though it was a heavily male-dominated crowd at the Middle East, the Sickabillies prepared any unsuspecting pin-curl girls in the audience for what they were about to witness the rest of the night.   The Sickabillies’ version of the Vince Taylor classic “Brand New Cadillac,” though often associated with greaser car culture, is hardly the Clash’s or Brian Setzer’s version.  It’s sped up to a heart-pounding pace, and somehow fits into a set that also included lyrics like “I am what I eat, from my head to my feet, I guess you could call me a pussy.”  Like I said, faint of heart be warned: this is rock n’ roll.

As Nashville Pussy, the hard rock quartet from Atlanta, took the stage, the crowd shifted into bar fight mode.  With Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers filling in on bass, Blaine Cartwright, Ruyter Suys, and Jeremy Thompson delved into fist-pumping crowd favorites like “High As Hell.”  I had been previously skeptical of Nashville Pussy, partially because they’re so damn intimidating and partially because, growing up in New Hampshire, I was getting tired of the “redneck rock” thing.  I’m a discriminating musician, and a proud music snob, but I have to say: they won me over.  Though I’m sure Ruyter Suys would beat me in an arm wrestling match, she sure is a charismatic guitarist.  She’s the most passionate member of the group, throwing herself to the ground in a frenzy as she blazes through solo after solo.  Looking out at the crowd, it’s easy to see that the people closest to Ruyter’s side of the stage are the ones most engaged in the show, throwing their hands up.

A superb night of chanting, moshing, and throwing beer on people had only begun when The Supersuckers began their set.  I’ve been to shows where it’s hard to tell who is the opener and who is the headliner by just looking at the lineup.  This was one of those shows.  The Supersuckers had to try pretty hard to upstage Nashville Pussy, but they narrowly pulled it off.  For a rebel-rousing, “I don’t care” kind of band, they put on a pretty polished show.  Lead Singer Eddie Spaghetti dons his uniform of cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, while he and his guitarists move in coordinated rhythms back and forth on the stage.   And, their main objective is to assure that everybody in the crowd goes nuts and has a great time.  They slashed through songs like “Coattail Rider” “Hell City Hell” and “Pretty Fucked Up”—during which a positively sauced female fan trotted happily onto the stage before being tossed back into the crowd by security.    

As the crowd got rowdier towards the end of the gig, I got slammed into a railing, on which I hit my neck hard.  Lucky for me, I wasn’t injured, and I got to get up onto the backstage ramp for the rest of the show to avoid getting crushed by a crowd of drunk 6’5’’ dudes slamming into each other.  There I got some awesome shots, including this one of Eddie leading the crowd at the end of the concert:

This was a positively American rock n’ roll show.  Eddie Spaghetti, insisting that it wouldn’t be over until they had “properly rocked,” indulged the crowd with a set that included an encore with no off-stage break in between.  The set ended with the Supersuckers classic “Born With A Tail,” as the pumped crowd threw their middle fingers in the air.  It was a pleasant surprise to get such a great lineup and raucous crowd in the otherwise fairly quiet Boston ‘burbs.  For three groups that may well pride themselves on being vulgar and loud, these are also bands that don’t play games with their fans.  They respect their crowd, they play all the hits everybody wants to hear, and their greatest pride comes from knowing the crowd is having a blast. 

The Supersuckers are touring the west coast through December.  Check out their tour dates at http://www.supersuckers.com/tour.cfm

For a list of upcoming shows at the Middle East in Cambridge, visit http://www.mideastclub.com/

Three Bad Jacks

This week was another adventure for the books.  I consider myself a rockabilly girl at heart, so I was thrilled to spend Saturday night with one of the greatest rockabilly bands touring the states these days, Three Bad Jacks. 

These guys are touring veterans, so they know how the game is played.   Lead guitarist and front man Elvis Suissa joined bassist Ruben Ibarra and fill-in veteran drummer John Palmer for a set of hard, fast, rootsy rock n’ roll at Firehouse 13 in Providence, RI.  This restored firehouse is used to hosting local punk shows, but for one night only played host to a band I’ve been waiting 4 years to see live.

I was surprised when I showed up at 8pm that my friend Bryan and I appeared to be the only guests.  For about an hour the band went through their sound check, and we got a little private concert.  Attendance picked up around 9:30, with the crowd still totaling only about 15 guests—far fewer, I imagine, than the band is used to playing for.  I call myself lucky for getting to be a guest at this “intimate concert.”

The band doled out a few rockabilly faves:  “That’s Alright Mama,” and their classic and heart-melting tune “It’s Forever,” which Elvis dedicated to his wife, about whom he wrote the song.  But, throughout their set they explored several other genres which eloquently showcased their versatility within the realm of rock n’ roll.  The song “Scars,” off their album “Crazy in the Head,” revved up their set with its rolling Johnny Cash rhythm.  And let me just say, these guys aren’t afraid to be loud and fast.  Lead singer Elvis got the (small) crowd pumped with the Ramones inspired “Thrill Me” and transitioned flawlessly into a badass cover of “The Ace of Spades.” 

Three Bad Jacks is a band with spirit and heart, and one—if you can’t already tell—that I’m quite fond of.  Seeing them live only made me love them more.  Elvis has been touring with the band for over 15 years now, while bassist Ruben Ibarra was signed to his first recording contract right out of high school.  Elvis introduces Ruben on stage as “the fastest bassist in the world,” and I don’t doubt it for a second!  I found myself completely in awe of his upright bass prowess, and after the show Ruben told me that Matt Freeman, the notoriously high-speed bass player of the band Rancid, has admitted that Ruben is an even faster bassist than him. As a group Three Bad Jacks has mastered the art of entertainment, typically including a fire show in each of their performances (they decided not to do a fire show at Firehouse 13, in respect to the victims of Providence’s Station Night Club Fire).   On top of all that, they are great to their fans.  Venues typically want nothing more than to get their bands in and out in a timely fashion, but Elvis stuck around as long as possible, taking pictures and talking to fans.  The whole group was also kind enough to treat my friend and me to pizza in downtown Providence after the show, where I had the pleasure of hearing some great stories about their individual histories as musicians, and conducting a little interview with Elvis Suissa (see below).

The show closed out for the night with the song Elvis calls “the best [he’s] ever written.”  It’s a touching fingerstyle ballad called “Noah and Jacob’s Song,” dedicated to his two young sons.  Elvis’s oldest son was diagnosed with autism, and he travels home frequently to spend time with him.  The song is personal and touching, and a joy to see Elvis perform live, solo with his acoustic guitar.

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After the show I finally got to have a few words with Elvis, who despite the miniscule crowd and despite being so far from home, seemed to be having a great time.  He loves playing all over the country, naming Boston, Providence, Texas, and the Midwest as some of his favorite hotspots.  Plus, he loves playing L.A.—understandably as “it’s home.”  The guys don’t consider themselves a west coast band, and in fact, their fan base seems pretty uniform all over the country.  Though they’ve been touring for so many years, Elvis suggests that he may be growing fonder of being in the studio than of touring.  “I love being in the studio,” he says.  “It used to be 50/50, but now it’s maybe 60/40.”  Three Bad Jacks’ new album “Pictures and Memories From Home” was released in June, and Elvis’s favorite track off the album is the one he wrote for his children, “Noah and Jacob’s Song.”

Check out the song, with a personal message from Elvis Suissa here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvKW4-tcg30

If you have been touched by Elvis’s song and his story, please consider donating to Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization dedicated to funding reasearch into causes and treatments for autism.  http://www.autismspeaks.org/ways-give