Barn Dance Review - April 1998

From: tejas (tbsamsel@richmond.infi.net)

Seemed that there was a bit of attitude in place Saturday, the fourth of April for this Barn Dance. Alley Katz was being ornery, for CRACKER was playing. Their people seemed to be making arbitrary management decisions on the spur of the moment since they were expecting to make big $$. Not that making big money is a bad thing in and of its own self, but this was the first CCBD in which they've even shown a modicum of interest. ("Whee! CRACKER! Fill the club... and bring in the goon squad!! Oh, and underage is $7.00/of age... $5.00... ''they don't drink, Maaan!'' I had my teenaged son in tow with a couple of his buds along. This put me near breaking the exchequer.)

On a similar note, the line outside the club was entertained by the several police checkpoints in the Bottom. All that was needed was a whiff or two of CS or pepper gas to bring back some of that good ol' late '60s/early '70s nostalgia.

Prior to getting in line I fed my crew of burly young louts and ran into Michael Hurley, whom I eventually introduced to Page Wilson who happened to be playing at Moondance. One of my charges said of Hurley, ''Gee. He's even older than you are.'' Another youthful query after meeting over half a dozen bass players was ''Why do you know all these bass players, Dad?'' I attributed this to a misspent youth. Another question came up which was ''Does Page Wilson have a doppelgaenger? How could he do his Saturday show and be at Moondance at the same time?''

Tammy Bouquet, the ever-charming Turnip Green Queen MC'ed solo (and did a bang-up job on it) since WCVE's Steve Clark was said to be down with the flu. This was an extremely packed house, the mass of bodies was such that if one were phobic of crowds, it would have been an extremely unpleasant situation. Due to my lack of funds, I was scarcely able to swill enough spiritus frumentii to unleash my limbic, reptilian brain, allowing me to pass through the teeming crowd unscathed.

The Capital City Boys had members of the POI BOYS (Brian Harvey and Steven McCarthy) and THE SLACK FAMILY (Andy Burns and Blake Montgomery) on line this evening and seemed rather subdued if you were on the other side of the hall due to the press of folks.

THE BLIND PHAROAHS, from NYC and part of the "twang core" scene, were the first act and were more of a country blues type of act. They had a rather good harp player whom I talked to a bit during a break about the history of free-reed instrumentation.

TRAILER BRIDE, Chapel Hilltoppers and veterans of the Barn Dance, seemed to be a bit shaky at first since front-lady Melissa Swingle was suffering from a case of the flu. Ever the trouper, she rose to the occasion and gave us a dynamite show, including a virtuoso performance on the musical saw. One could nearly see the flu vibrations enhancing her musicianship. This was most impressive, to say the least.

JOSIE KREUZER's rockabilly set was right on the money. She's got the Wanda Jackson "warble" and stage presence out the wazoo. She's got a web site... and records on SheDevil Records, appropriately enough. She's worth seeing again, in a less crowded venue. Perhaps the Moondance on her next pass through this side of the country?

THE DRIVE BY TRUCKERS stopped by from Athens, GA and took the place of THE CAPITAL CITY BOYS before CRACKER came on. They were great and frenzied as usual, but seemed quite subdued if you were on the far side of the hall. One would be hard pressed to hear them clearly from the east wall of the hall or on the second floor since the crowd was so densely crowded.

CRACKER, as mentioned before, was the draw tonight and closed out the evening with a memorable set. I hadn't had my middle chakras/solar plexus grabbed by a bass line in many years; don't know if it was Bob Rupe's bass playing or the miked kickdrum. Guess I'll have to ask. Anyway, things got even better with the exquisitely thrilling vocals of Joan Osborne. She has a voice that needs only some hard road miles and perhaps a few near-death experiences to get that bit of that ''rode hard and put up wet'' sort of patina on her pipes that will enhance her abilities. (It should be noted that I'm not inntending to slag her, but hersinging seemed a bit like aerobics in a way. I've seen such chanteuses as Janis Joplin, Tracy Nelson, Maria Muldaur, and Koko Taylor from the same vantage as I was to Ms. Osborne that night and there was little of the requisite soulfulness/bawdiness/innuendo that these singers are known for.) She's still young and should be around for quite some time since I hear she leads a rather exemplary life. Wes Freed again sang THE SHINER SONG in Czech. This is a Tex-Czech ditty, polka-style, that speaks of the Czechs in Texas building a new Prague there in the town of Shiner, with the requisite fountain of fine Pilsner beer. I come from Tex-Czech stock and am damn proud of Mr. Freed for his stellar performance. Jak zhmash, y'all. David Lowrey, towards the end of the show, exhorted the crowd to support the Capital City Barn Dance at times other than when CRACKER is playing. I agree with the man; he gave us a great show and proved to be quite the gentleman.

TBSamsel@richmond.infi.net (also tejas@infi.net)
'Do the boogie woogie in the South American way'
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