Brattle Show with Walker and Jay

...last night was fun. The "White Trash Trailer" show was a benefit for the Brattle Theater. There was BBQ and beer for attendees as we played from 7:15 to about 8:15. It was Ned's new song order and I think it worked well. Eric played bass since Dave was on vacation, and so there was no trumpet. We were also missing Kevin's guitar parts. I think it still sounded good, but I always prefer the sound when we have the full band.

Here's what we played:

4 New Strings
2 Yellow Sarong
5 Nothing
2 Her Grey City
3 Moonlight Mile
5 Turned to Glass
0 She Fell Down
7 Starlight
7 Driving In America
3 Tore It Down
0 Hot Down Here
4 Punk Rock Dream

Then we watched tons of funny old trailers and drank beer and then there was a raffle and finally this awesome act called Walker and Jay played.

I was interested to see them, having just returned from a long trip in the mountains of Virginia, during which we failed to see any genuine mountain music performed (and wasted $10 on a tape of what turned out to be Mtn Muzak).

Anyways, Walker & Jay consists of two guys with a banjo and a fiddle and a guitar, which they trade around variously between songs. They sing around a single central mike, old-school bluegrass style. And traditional bluegrass is what they play - or is it? I'm not familiar enough with the genre to say which were standards or originals, but everything they played sent me to the Appalachian Mountains in my mind.

The second half of their set was played in darkness while the Quaid Brothers' mechanized animation "Street of Crocodiles" played silently and creepily behind them.

Very strong playing - the instrumental sections stand on their own - and then are supplemented by a convincing and surprisingly mature vocal sound that seems to blow in from very far away. The fiddle provides the harmony part in several songs, and there were some nice harmonizing vocals as well. Despite some technical issues with the mic arrangement and the instruments reacting to the heat and humidity, they played a captivating set, and by the end had cast a spell over their audience, causing us to buy Walker and Jay CDs.

I'm now listening to their 13-song "4-track Demo" which sounds frickin' awesome!

Oh, and we sold a couple of Blind King t-shirts and CDs, as well. ;)