I recently spent three weeks back home in South Carolina. The weeks were filled with family, friends, beer, and some righteous rock and roll music. The first show I caught was Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses w/Guilt Ridden Troubadour at the Pour House in Charleston. It was the single most packed show I’ve been to at the Pour House. Ticketmaster had oversold tickets and they turned away 100 people at the door who had already put up their twenty bucks. Openers Guilt Ridden Troubadour are co-fronted by my favorite Charleston songwriter, Mac Leaphart, the band was as rowdy as the Stones and as country as Waylon, Willie, and the boys. The music was a mixture of Leaphart’s originals and covers (Mac nurses soft spots for John Prine and the Faces), and the capacity crowd seemed pleasantly surprised to be faced with an opener that could bring it.
Bingham and his band opened with the glorious stomp of “Day is Done†from his sophomore album Roadhouse Son. The band rocked early and often. The Dead Horses consisted of only 3 members: a bassist, drummer, and very capable multi-instrumentalist. They gave Bingham plenty of room to sing and had the tight pulse that only a relentlessly touring band can master. Just when I was getting a little bored of the straight ahead rockers, Bingham broke out the acoustic and harmonica set up and launched into a string of slower numbers including his Oscar-winning song “The Weary Kind†from the also Oscar winning movie Crazy Heart (see Twangville review here). Though not as spooky as the recorded version, Bingham gave a strong, heartfelt reading of the tune. Other highlights for me included “Tell My Mother I Miss Her So†and “Hard Times.†Bingham doesn’t quite have a full setlist worth of killer songs yet, but for a songwriter that is not yet 30, he’s pretty badass and obviously in touch with his muse. He’s got a new album due out Sept. 7, Junky Star on Lost Highway Records.
The next night I would catch Mac Leaphart and his Ragged Company again. It was fun to see Mac with a full band performing a number of cool covers (“Windfallâ€, “The Speed of the Sound of Lonelinessâ€) as well as a couple new originals. However, it’s his older songs that still did it for me. I’ve probably heard him play “Confederate Roses†a dozen times. Each time it’s made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and this night was no exception. It’s a gorgeous murder ballad that aches with emotion and southern imagery. Leaphart is Charleston’s best kept secret, a singer-songwriter whose knack for capturing the South in song is equal to that of the Drive-By Truckers.
The next big show in my vacation was THE show. The holy grail of rock and roll and Americana music. NEIL YOUNG.
I caught his Twisted Road tour as it swung through Spartanburg, South Carolina. The English cult folkie Burt Jansch, one of Neil Young’s personal heroes and is considered to be one of the best acoustic guitarists ever, opened the show. The crowed enjoyed Jansch, but were clearly there for the main attraction.
Young entered a stage with two grand pianos, a pipe organ, several acoustic guitars, and multiple electric guitars. Young seemed calm throughout the night and engaged with the crowd several times. I think it was the presence of the mirror image Krispy Kremes on either side of the road that did it. Young mentioned that the sight of the identical doughnut shops directly across the street from each other was a new sight for him.
He began with only his acoustic and harmonica, playing â€Hey, Hey, My, My (Out of the Blue)â€, “Tell Me Whyâ€, and “Helpless†to open the show. He played a number of new songs, most of which were pretty solid, with the standouts being “Love and Warâ€, “Leiaâ€, and the encore closing “Walk With Meâ€. Though the new songs where good, the most surprising aspect of the evening was Young’s impassioned vocals on decade’s old songs like “Cortez the Killer†and “I Believe In Youâ€. I was also surprised by the presence of electric guitars, but was super psyched to see Old Black in action as Young plowed through “Down by the River†and “Cinnamon Girlâ€. He began the three song encore with a rare back to back performance of “Heart of Gold†and “Old Man†before closing with the elegiac new song “Walk With Meâ€. Yes, Neil, we will walk with you.
Next up for me was one of my favorite bands on the whole god damn earth, American Gun. The Columbia, SC-based band was playing a homecoming show with another favorite band of mine, The Train Wrecks, as well as rocker Kenley Young. The Trainwrecks are a band to watch out for on the alt. country scene. The 4 piece band includes their own version of John Neff, who plays a ridiculously awesome dobro in a band that sounds like early Old 97’s at their manic best. Frontman Jason Bible made it to Savannah by way of Texas, and he has the songwriting chops to prove it. Their debut album was reviewed by Twangville here. Their follow up is in the can, so here’s hoping we get our hands on it sooner rather than later. Kenley Young brought his band with him and rocked the attentive audience with his brand of pop-alt. rock. Though none of his songs stuck with me, I need to remind myself to check out his CD.
American Gun took the stage just after midnight. Armed with a bottle of Jim Beam, the band started out strong as front man Todd Mathis (Twangville’s own) kicked it up a notch with his own brand of brit-rock meets alt. country style of rock n roll. This was the first American Gun show I had seen since the departure of co-frontman and songwriter Donald Merckle. The band seems to have absorbed the loss quite well all things considered. There is considerable more space in the band’s sound and lead guitarist Noel Rodgers is admirably filling that gap with lonesome background vocals that contrast well with Mathis’s (as well as taking a turn on at the mike for a cover of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s “Straight to Hellâ€). The band played a handful of new songs that continue to find Mr. Mathis writing filled with guitar hooks and alternatively funny and heart breaking lyrics. “Cola-Crazy†may be the best of the new songs. A classic Mathis composition, it holds the same emotional tug of “Mexican Restaurant†and “Tearsâ€. But with lines like “all the therapists in town, they know me by nameâ€, it holds some comedic release. Another memorable song was “Girls in Their Underwear†(this may or may not be the actual title).
However all the new material was merely acting as an appetizer to the main event. Approximately half way through the set, original lead guitarist Jeff Crews was invited on stage for some guitar heroics. The resulting performances of songs like “Pictureâ€, “Neil Young Moodâ€, and a cover of “Dead Flowers†was one of the greatest guitar battles I’ve ever seen. Crews graced the first two American Gun records with his melodic lead lines and scorching energy. His replacement Noel Rodgers is more of a harmonic guitarist and is capable of throwing way more notes and noises into a solo. As a metaphor, think of Wilco’s replacement of Jay Bennett with Nels Cline. Now imagine Bennett and Cline playing together. Yea, it was that crazy. Mathis, who is capable of playing some pretty good lead work himself, stayed mostly out of the way (hanging out with Jim Beam and friends) to let the two gunslingers battles it out. Some of the songs where epically long (at least for this band), but man it was glorious.
At some point in the evening Mr. Beam made its way into the audience. So this reviewer’s memory of the night from that point forward is a little hazy, but hey that’s rock and roll.
About the author: Specializes in Dead, Drunk, and Nakedness..... Former College Radio DJ and Current Craft Beer Nerd