What if Quentin Tarantino or the Coen Brothers wrote music instead of making movies? Â I think it would sound like Jonathan Warren & the Billy Goats. Â There’s a simple story line to the music, yet the cast of characters and quirky delivery make for something unique that keeps your rapt attention. Â Their latest album, On This Very Evening hews closely to that notion.
The first thing to note about the record is the instrumental choices of the band and how it influences the sound.  Singer Warren plays guitar and many of the “traditional” Americana instruments like banjo and bass.  Billy Goat David Sather-Smith is featured frequently on cello, which sometimes picks up the bass part and sometimes is a feature on its own, like on Quite Clearly and She Gets the Blues.  Billy Goat Andrew Smith plays drums and percussion and really drives many of the songs.  Although not a Billy Goat, the sound of this project also owes a lot to violinist  Austin Clark.  Between Clark’s fiddle and Smith’s drums there’s a clear ambience across the entire album that fans of Old Crow Medicine Show will definitely relate.
The other thing to note about this record is the use of time signatures and tempos to contribute to the overall feel. Â On This Very Evening starts out at a kind of murder ballad tempo, but halfway through, boom!, it’s suddenly danceable. Â Same thing with Honey Dear and I’d Rather. Â The tempo change along with addition of some horns gives a Spanish feel to Living Room.
 Overall On This Very Evening has a live feel to it (and the press release says many songs were recorded that way).  The band is in Santa Cruz this weekend and I’m looking forward to hearing them in a truly live setting.  Between tempo changes, minor chords, and a line-up of instruments just off center there’s no mistaking this record as yet another Nashville delivery of Americana music, and that’s intended as flattery.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.