Jan 18
DaraBluegrass, Country
A new band formed from members of The Maybelles and Jenny and the Corn Ponies with a regular Monday evening gig at the Hole in the Wall for the foreseeable future. Despite newness and fluctuating membership, they have a sound – pop-bluegrass/country – and they have a shtick of sorts. There’s Mama on the fiddle, Sister on the guitar, Daddy on the upright bass (Ani DiFranco looking female), and a sometimes lap steel guitarist whose baby-face serves well as the little brother figure. Sister’s voice is pleasant but is at its best when being harmonized with by Mama’s deeper voice. Daddy’s my favorite, though, with her genuinely twanging voice, fierce stage energy, and her own songs that blend light lesbian politics with traditional bluegrass sounds.
Oct 30
DaraAlt-Country, Bluegrass, Rock and Roll
Those Darlins aren’t so darling anymore – they done went and grew up into proper rock stars and will probably continue on to implode like real rock stars – these three girls and a drummer sing deceptively simple and fun sing-along songs about being slightly trashy and Southern – their music’s actually not so simple though… it’s rooted in authentic country, honky tonk, Southern rock and even some blues but performed (especially tonight) with rock ‘n roll and even garage rock swagger and snarl – they confessed midway through their set that they’d performed and drank beers earlier in the evening at another Austin venue and it was pretty clear that they were still feeling the effects – the blonde one with long curls was slit-eyed and repeating herself – her performance was most affected – the resident ‘bad girl’ with the husky sexy voice eventually spewed beer on the crowd and bit pumpkin meat from a jack o lantern on the stage and spewed that too – the smallest one with the short curly black hair and the Janis Joplin maleish voice had changed the most in appearance (more bold) but was the best behaved – they opened with an instrumental surf rock song – they sing about getting drunk and eating a whole chicken, being a “snaggle-toothed mama” in a trailer far away, and warning her boy that he knew she was wild one all along – they made me nostalgic for my 20s, when being a wild one was only fun, but then they made me remember that I’m happy to be in my 30s – I still really like this band but, as their senior, I am worried for them 
Oct 28
DaraBluegrass, Folk, Punk, World Music
I loved this show and so did the crowd –I think this band is basically the foundation for slam-grass and the gypsy punk movement – impossible not to dance to a rowdy accordion – and then the old Irish ballads communicate a sense of warmth and companionship – although not always the vocalist, Shane McGowan was the center of the show – the band wouldn’t be half as interesting without his slurred snarling vocals – having just watched the movie biography of his life (Should I Fall From Grace), I was firstly amazed that they were charging so much to see a man who was such a high liability for not showing up or not being able to perform and secondly felt a kinship with him like I kind of knew him – I figured he must have sobered up if they were touring like this – not a bit – his spoken words were so unintelligible (partly because of his accent but mostly because of intoxication) that a band member would translate what he was saying for the audience – funny and horrifying all at the same time – like the irresistible draw of looking at a car wreck – he frequently left the stage between songs and progressively relied more on the microphone to hold him up – despite all of that, his singing was mostly on target–it was disturbing or touching that his band members accommodate him as he is so that he can perform and that his fans almost celebrate his self-destruction – part of his mystique – oh and he’d gotten his first set of false teeth recently but didn’t wear them to perform…. someone said the movie about his life should be shown to kids to terrify them into sobriety – “hghgthzzz” as Shawn would say
Sep 09
DaraAmericana, Bluegrass, Country, Jazz, Swing
the more that I understand the sound of Texas swing, the more I appreciate this band – they elaborate on the sound and play intelligently and creatively – always based in country but sometimes leaning more toward the bluegrass then toward a solid swing song and then a waltz and then almost jazzy – they’re very good musicians and make the song their own while maintaining its integrity – Jeremy, the lead singer’s, voice might not be remarkable but what is remarkable is his deft management of the band and dedication to the music he loves
Nov 26
DaraBluegrass, Country, Goth, Gypsy, Punk
this band was my favorite from a wealth of SXSW fantastics and I was even more impressed this time, some bands strike the personal chord and this band is one of them for me, the singer’s voice is a tremendous creening wail and the fiddler fiddles like a mad genius and the whole band has the fierce energy that sets a crowd to dancing without their full consent, the drummer was on top of his drumset several times, they paint traditional bluegrass/country-type-songs black and then hype them up with a gypsy punk undertone, inspiring as recordings and even moreso live
Nov 26
DaraBluegrass, Country, Jam Band, Rock and Roll
mix of psychedelia and folk in an indie style – reminiscent of Grateful Dead and Neil Young , many band members, we enjoyed them
Sep 13
DaraBluegrass, Britpop, Classic Rock, College Rock, Jam Band, Southern Rock
not as dirty (”music for the unwashed and well-read” as they say) as I remembered them – darling curly haired middle-aged member still smoked on stage but nobody else did – think the vision I have of them all living together in a trailer in a incessant jam session is just that (a vision), easy to pick out the member who sang on the cover of Gin and Juice with his highish irreverent voice, had them classified in my head as hard bluegrass but totally inaccurate, covered a huge range of styles on a generally “rootsy” (as they said) foundation, started off with strong twinges of Cajun but depending on who sang veered toward British invasion, Southern rock, etc. etc., they’re a more countrified Grateful Dead, you should know that guitars, mandolins, bass, accordions, keyboards, drums, fiddles, banjos, lap steels are employed
May 15
DaraBluegrass
a fat man and a little boy on guitar, mandolin, banjo, etc., old timey bluegrass
Apr 22
DaraBluegrass, College Rock, Country
young whippersnappers with too little cred (in music or life) to be as cocky as they were in their silly sunglasses and tidy little mohawks, had a huge college-hippie crowd, they do mostly covers (I believe) of bluegrass/country, grudgingly acknowledged that they sounded the tiniest bit like O’Death but don’t take that too seriously
Mar 15
DaraBluegrass, Punk, Singer/Songwriter
one-man band playing violin and singing in a way very reminiscent of my local hero Scott H. Biram but not as punk nor as tight, turns out they’re touring together soon
Feb 28
DaraBluegrass, Country, Jazz
Rockboy was all enthused about this band now that he is officially a member of the anything-rootsy scene in Austin, I was bored silly by this band initially – western swing but it sounded like lounge music to me, and lounge music basically takes good songs and sucks the character out of them, BUT as the set went on for hours they went into their bluegrass selections and some moody wailers and the three are the fantastic musicians that they are purported to be: French jazz guitar, Elana James as lead vocalist and fiddler and then the thumpiest upright bass player I’d ever seen (he seemed to bounce his hand as he slapped so getting more out of each motion), the drummer is not always with them and did not seem to be having as good of a time as the rest of them, Rockboy heard about them through Shotgun Party connections and though Elana sometimes sings in a similarly old-timey cute girl fashion her voice is no match for her violin playing or Shotgun’s voice, the happy hour bands at The Continental are generally high quality, they’re heading out for a three week tour in Australia next week
Feb 28
DaraBluegrass, Jam Band
some amalgam of the Weary Boys, Weary Boys are super popular in Austin but have always struck me as a little too audience-pleasing, I enjoyed this group though, five or six people on stage playing in jam-fashion on a variety of instruments, Grateful Dead with a little more bluegrass
Oct 18
DaraBluegrass
several old men huddled in a corner of the restaurant, disappointing after hearing what the young people can do with a fiddle but charming and cozy
Aug 01
DaraBluegrass
kept thinking it was Dueling Banjos but it was one guy wailing along to his banjo, he was okay for about 1 minute, got better when a guitarist joined him, took himself way too seriously
Mar 30
DaraAmericana, Bluegrass
The woman is bizarrely ON – either on drugs or no separation between stage self and reality. She plays the sultry Southern bad girl. I did enjoy her voice, as well as the looks of her man or at least her co-vocalist. His voice, though, was average. Rockboy thought they were ‘vanilla,’ but I think they had a nice repertoire of oldish country stuff. They were recording this show. Jane Bond was a local show, but she is fairly established in the city.
Aug 22
DaraBluegrass, Outlaw Country
the gal pal of WT Special, the sound was so off for their set I almost couldn’t discern her effortless beautiful tang of a voice, good rockabilly, better than WT by far, the sound was really bad
Aug 04
DaraBluegrass, Country, Rock and Roll
very bland country rock and bluegrass, a crowd pleaser I guess
Aug 20
DaraBluegrass, Country
mix of the two bands we saw on the 6th, two bartenders have not seemed sure of the band(s)’ name(s), Rockboy is big on being a regular, me…not so much
Aug 06
DaraBluegrass, Country
hot fiddler girl and guitarist with Social Distortion tattoo played disappointingly boring bluegrass-country
Apr 16
DaraBluegrass, Punk
rocking bluegrass, screaming women, I kind of love them by now
Jan 08
DaraBluegrass, Punk
raucous bluegrass, covered Ratt, very fun, very speedy guitar work, WomanWithAMandolin is always right in the end
Sep 18
DaraBluegrass, Country, Rock and Roll
the first band recommended to me in Austin and the one I have never seen, walked by them twice and quite enjoyed the quality rocking country and bluegrass I heard
Aug 09
DaraBluegrass, Psychedelic, World Music
I really really liked them, all quality musicians—note the 7-string bass and the tear-wrenching beauty of Mary Hartigan’s (?) fiddle, music ranged in sincerity from Lou Reed lows to cheesy Pretenders-like (only egh) to salsa to bluegrass to psychedelic, frontman is married to Mary and his sister is lead vocalist
May 15
DaraBluegrass
bluegrass, felt I’d seen them before most certainly, sound was awful—tinny and brassy—so unfair to judge them
Apr 20
AndrewBluegrass
04.20.2004 Whiskey Friday The Cantab Lounge, Cambridge, MA
Tuesday night at the Cantab is Bluegrass night, and Whiskey Friday was granted a forty-five minute set at 8:30pm in the midst of the Bluegrass Pickin Party. The sound quality was a major improvement over their last gig, and even more impressive given that they had to project over a crowd 150 strong.
With the same line up and a similar setlist, it was a treat to be able to absorb some of the quality of the performance instead of having it impeded by the venue. The instrumental songs sounded crisper and the melody of the tunes came through strongly. It was particularly noticable on tunes like the wistful “Hard Sell.” The band faced the audience (well hell, there was actually a stage), each had their own mics. What a difference a venue makes, eh?
Mar 31
AndrewBluegrass
03.31.2004 Whiskey Friday The Skelig, Waltham, MA
Whiskey Friday plays bluegrass. That alone is major cred in my book. Bluegrass is more alive than just about any form of music there is, and it’s a hard sell in Boston. This six piece band (there were only five members performing tonight) plays with polish and poise, and most of all, a tremendous energy.
Their performance was excellent despite some real tough impediments. Let’s start with the monsoon weather running through Waltham for the last three days without much of a break and expected to last up to another week. Not just temperatures in the low forties, but rain, wind, cats and dogs.
Then. The venue. No words express how horrified I am that The Skelig offers this space for performance artists (they have an actual stage in the rear of the bar) but I’ll try. The speakers were mounted so that the performers had to face the front entrance in order to avoid feedback. But the tables lining the wall were facing the entrance as well, so the band had their backs to the audience. And moving to the bar only resulted in a side view of the band, so still little chance of watching the instrumentation. The mic was placed in front of a vertical support column so whoever was singing at a particular moment was serenading the pillar, and the space was small so they band members had to manuever around each other to take their solo turns. The forty-five minute set showcased original tunes, including “Hard Sell” as well as classics dating back to before any of them were born. The harmonies were terrific, and Tom’s strong baritone carried through the room on its own strength, bypassing the mic. “Ruby” brought the show to a rollicking close.
It was amusing to watch patrons enter the bar to their very own bluegrass performance. Equally amusing to stand behind the band and watch them strut, we were literally talking behind their backs. But they gamely performed and purely from an aural aesthetic, it was a rewarding performance, even if the visual element was stunted by the venue itself. The Skelig must do more solo acoustic performances than band because there was no other possible explanation for a design like that. Whiskey Friday made the best of a wet night and a constricted stage. That, too, is major cred in my book.
Set List
Live and Let Live
I Never will Marry
Rebecca
Mean Old Wind
Southern Flavor
I’ve Endured
Blackberry Blossom
Molly and Tenbrooks
True Life Blues
Hard Sell
Ruby
Dec 09
DaraBluegrass, Country
mandolin, banjo, two guitars, drums—rocking old-timey country rock with bluegrass twinges, can’t think of new words to describe these same bands, liked them a lot, had a hoppy girl singer, small-time band from Austin, they were smart creative casual in person
Sep 20
DaraBluegrass, Folk, Jam Band, World Music
actually wanted to give them a chance because “self-described as a sacrilegious mix of bluegrass, calypso, salsa, Afro-pop, funk, rock and jazz,” with BeautifulTeacher and HerHonky and all wiped out so gave them 5 minutes, recurring visions of my neighbor hula-hooping
Sep 20
DaraAmericana, Bluegrass, Folk
tech excellence—pleasing in ones so young and apparently socially normal, boring and without soul
Sep 20
DaraBluegrass, Rock and Roll
still love each other and play with passion and energy, sweetness to playfulness to dedicated musicianshipness
Sep 20
DaraBluegrass, Rock and Roll
dirty darlings of dirty and distinct groove bluegrass rock
Aug 08
DaraBluegrass
lively soulful bluegrass, two GuitarSoloGod-looking rockers crooning and strumming together to the accompaniment of an upright bass and drums, really enjoyable
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