Travelin' McCourys with Billy Nershi

     On Wednesday, March 12th, The Travelin' McCourys with Billy Nershi played The Boulder Theater to a near sold out crowd. 
     Opening the show was Pert Near Sandstone, a five-piece newgrass band from St. Paul Minneapolis. Consisting of Nate Sipe on mandolin and fiddle, Kevin Kniebel on banjo and lead vocals, J Lenz on guitar, Eric Struve on upright bass and Matt Cartier on clogs and washboard, Pert Near Sandstone impressed the crowd with classic sounding bluegrass with a twist. While drawing heavily on classic bluegrass sounds, Pert Near Sandstone was able to incorporate their own distinguished sound. Songs were carried by vocals that were soulful and powerful, often deviating from the usual layered vocals of classic bluegrass. On top of the different vocals, Pert Near Sandstone brought something to the stage missing at many bluegrass shows: a charismatic stage presence. With Matt Cartier dancing and beating his clogs on the stage all night, stage right resembled that of a punk show, as Cartier flailed his arms and raised his legs waist high, slamming them on the stage. The highlight of the set was a Pert Near Sandstone original song, "20 Cups of Coffee," which featured an awesome stomp "solo" by Andy. The combination of rollicking bluegrass jams with a unique sound made Pert Near Sandstone a great opener. 
     While a charismatic stage presence was appreciated with Pert Near Sandstone, no such theatrics were needed with The Travelin' McCourys and Billy Nershi. Incredible instrumental virtuosity and an impressively tight sound was more than enough to carry the band through it's set. The Travelin' McCourys consist of Ronnie McCourey on mandolin, Robbie McCourey on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, Alan Bartram on bass with special guest for the night, Billy Nershi, on guitar. The McCoury's and Nershi have collaborated a number of times previously, lending to the impressive cohesiveness of the group. The highlight of the set was undoubtedly a cover of Doc Watson's "Southbound." As Robbie tore into the banjo riff, Jason began singing "I've been here a month or more, stuck in this old city. The people that have to call it home they're the ones I pity, Lord, I'm homesick, and the blues are the only songs I ever seem to pick." Nershi came in with an impressive solo, with much of the crowd boisterously "wooing" and applauding. As Ronny took over with a banjo solo, the floor shook with the crowd's stomping of feet and raucous dancing. To the delight of crowd, Adam Aijala and Dave Johnson, of the Boulder-born Yonder Mountain String Band, joined The McCourys, providing backup guitar and banjo, respectively. With 7 stringed instruments strumming, the band played "Pockets" and "Shenandoah Breakdown." Other highlights of the set include "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," an awesome rendition of "Shady Grove," and a cover of The String Cheese Incident's "Jellyfish," featuring Nershi leading nearly the entire crowd in a singalong of "My brain is just a jellyfish in the ocean of my head, 'Cuz I drank too much tequila, and I woke up seein' red."
     Pert Near Sandstone and The Travelin' McCourys with Billy Nershi put on a fantastic show for all in attendance. While Pert Near Sandstone offered a taste of newgrass, The McCourys and Nershi erupted with classic, fast paced bluegrass shredding.

Recording: Johnny Vidacovich with Anders Osborne and James Singleton

Photo Credit: Jerry Moran

Here's a great recording I recently found and have been listening to non-stop. With Johnny Vidacovich holding down the drums, Anders Osborne laying down groovy yet bluesy riffs, and James Singleton slapping the upright bass, this is a dynamic performance that explores many different themes and jams. Recorded by Richard Russell on March 24th, 2005, at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans.

https://archive.org/details/JVidacovich2005-03-24

Thanks to Jerry Moran of Native Orleanian for providing a great photograph. See more of Jerry's great work here: http://www.nativeorleanian.org/

The Trio with Johnny Vidacovich, featuring George Porter Jr. and Tab Benoit

Photo Credit Jerry Moran

     Tonight, The Trio featuring Johnny Vidacovich plays its thursday night residency at Maple Leaf Bar on Oak street in Uptown New Orleans. The special guests for the night are George Porter Jr. and Tab Benoit.
     George, one of today's most sought after bassists, has been purveying funk music since the late 1960's when he helped create The Meters, who went on to revolutionize funk music. Since then, he has toured rigorously, playing with artists such as Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, as well as a plethora of local New Orleans musicians. Along with The Trio, George tours with The Runnin' Pardners, The Meter Men featuring original Meters members Leo Nocentelli and Zigaboo Modeliste with Page McConnell of Phish, on top of finding time to sit in with numerous musicians. He is a regular on the festival circuit, including yearly performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest, Jam Cruise, and Bear Creek.

Photo Credit Jerry Moran

     Tab Benoit started playing the blues when he was a teenager in Houma, Louisiana. He honed his craft, playing bars and clubs in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, specifically Tabby's Blues Box and Heritage Hall. Playing with notable blues musicians such as Henry Gray and Raful Neal, Tab began emerging as a presence in the blues community, impressing locals and national fans alike. He has appeared on records with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, George Porter Jr., and Anders Osborne. His gritty, soulful blues have come to be recognized nationally, as Tab has taken to touring the United States regularly.
     With Johnny holding the beat on the drums, George funkin' it up on the bass, and Tab slinging soul on the guitar, The Maple Leaf promises to be grooving and moving tonight.

Check out a recording of a previous Trio show with Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr. and June Yamagishi
 https://archive.org/details/JVidacovich2002-08-29 

Thanks to Jerry Moran of Native Orleanian Photography for allowing me to use some of his great photographs. See more of Jerry's work at http://www.nativeorleanian.org/ and enjoy more of his shots from this show here: http://www.nativeorleanian.org/johnny_vidacovich_trio_tab_benoit_george_porter_jr_maple_leaf_11_14_13
   

The Funky Flavors of Sauce

Walking down a short staircase no more than two and a half feet in width, I step onto beer soaked astroturf dimly illuminated by hanging Christmas lights. Moving past two kegs at the bottom of the stairs, I push through a crowd of stripe clad twenty-somethings, towards the back of the room. The ceiling is no more than 6 1/2 feet tall, and at its widest, the room is ten feet in width. As I approach, I hear four clicks of the drumsticks as Sauce launches into its New Years Eve show. 

      Sauce, a self-proclaimed live funk band, consists of Philadelphia residents Pedro Purcell on drums, Robert Hassl on the keys, and a rotating cast of lead, rhythm, and bass guitar of Mike Paszkiewicz, Nick Kaulback, and JP Moynihan, who also provides vocals.  

Purcell and Paszkiewicz began playing music together as far back as middle school in Baltimore. Attending High School together, Paszkiewicz began giving guitar lessons to Moynihan. “He was my guitar teacher. I was playing with Mike every day junior and senior year of high school. We’d leave school and go back and jam... I learned a lot of stuff. I pretty much owe everything I know to Mike,” Moynihan said.

The lessons proved to be mutually beneficial, as Paszkiewicz gained inspiration from playing with Moynihan. “I wasn’t really writing or playing that much music before me and JP started playing... it kind of revitalized what I thought I was doing on guitar. That’s when we started writing song. That is kind of the roots of the earliest Sauce songs,” Paszkiewicz said. 

With two guitarists in Moynihan and Paszkiewicz and a drummer in Purcell, the trio began playing music in Pedro’s mother’s basement together, under the name Good Applesauce. 

In 2011, Paszkiewicz, and Purcell moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University. There, Kaulback, a fellow Temple student, was introduced to the band. Practicing in Kaulback’s South Philadelphia house, Sauce began to gain cohesion and a feel for one another’s musicianship. “A lot of things just go without being said with what we do live because we are a little bit inside of each other’s heads. We kind of know what’s coming next when we hear the other person playing. So it’s a back and forth kind of thing,” Paszkiewicz said.

Photo Credit Jessica Snyder

That same year, Moynihan met Hassl back in Baltimore. “We worked together at Carrabba’s and started hanging out. I wasn’t going to school for a semester and he (Moynihan) was going to CCBC. So we started hanging out and jamming until JP moved to Philly also. The summer after that, they said they had a spot in the house and I should come up, so I made the decision to do that. ” Hassl said. 

As Sauce tears through it’s New Years set, the crowd is growing more and more frantic. Sweat soaked and filled with Pabst, about 60 spectators dance as Sauce progresses through their performance. Flanked by tapestries glowing with more Christmas lights, Purcell and Hassl are sitting at the drums and keyboard, respectively, behind Paszkiewicz, Kaulback and Moynihan who command down-stage, no more than a foot away from the crowd.

In 2012, the “Sauce House” was conceived. All five members moved into a three level row home in North Philadelphia. Equipped with a basement, Sauce now had a formal practice space, as well as a venue to host shows. “It qualified as a fourth world country,” Paszkiewicz joked. He continued,“That place was trashed...But at the same time, we had some of the best experiences playing shows there.”

Playing mostly house parties for Temple students and friends, Sauce began garnering a following. “It started out with us having people over and then they’d want us to play so we would. It would turn into a house show and then more people started showing up and it became the Sauce House,” Paszkiewicz said. 

Performing with other Temple acts, namely DJ Anlbvrst (stage moniker of Kevin Moran) the Sauce House began to emerge as a weekend destination for Temple students. “Kevin helped a lot. He used to just text everyone on his contact list, like ‘yo, come out!’ He networked us pretty hard,” Moynihan said.

On top of providing exposure, Analbvrst helped lay the foundation for funk at Temple. “It started a new funk thing at Temple, I think. There were hints of it but people really started to dig funk because of DJ Anlbvrst. It’s different than what most kids see at Temple and they like it,” Moynihan said. 

It’s nearly 12 midnight, and Sauce is still going strong. They’ve played through a rendition of the Hey Arnold Theme and are moving into 2001. As the clock moves towards the New Year, Sauce stops playing and Moynihan starts a countdown from 10. The crowd joins in, and upon reaching 0, champagne erupts, showering everyone; it’s now 2013. Sauce closes out the set, making way for an Anlbvrst set that stretches deep into the morning.

Despite the abundance of live shows played, Sauce just recently released their first recording of their October 12th Grape Room show. “The first time we released something we wanted to really make sure it slapped people in the face,” Paszkiewicz explained. 

Having progressed past basement shows in the Sauce House, Sauce hopes to continue exploring new venues. “We’ve gone from loving the basement shows to now switching to us wanting to play bars. In a lot of cases, they are just better sounding shows. It takes so much of the burden off of us, all we have to worry about is playing,” Paszkiewicz said. 

On top of higher sound quality, Purcell explained the draw to playing paid gigs, “we didn’t make more than, like, $10 on a show until the last show when we made $400. That was a huge confidence builder, too... Finding out that we could actually make money off of it.”

Although no plans have been made officially, Sauce hopes to take to the road on tour, as well as spend time in a studio recording. Upcoming shows include The Green Turtle in Towson on Friday, November 29th at 9:30 pm and another Grape Room show on November 30th. 

Sauce music can be found here: http://getsauce.bandcamp.com/album/sauce-live-the-grape-room-10-12-13 

Sauce Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getsauce

Modest Mouse-Pittsburgh

    Modest Mouse continued it’s tour, stopping in Pittsburgh for another sold out crowd. 

Taking the stage at 9:00 PM, they opened with Gravity Rides everything. 

Donning his banjo, Isaac moved into Bury Me With It, much to the excitement of the crowd. 

Lampshades on Fire was played, with some in the crowd actually booing, giving the band the middle finger, and screaming “fuck the new shit.” Others were grooving to the song and enjoying the “new shit.” Isaac once again added a bit of a jam to the bridge. 

Next, The View was played, with an awesome extended jam towards the end that I have yet to hear during this song. 

Broke followed, garnering the loudest crowd response. Nearly everyone was singing along with Isaac, swaying as one. 

Isaac picked up his banjo again, starting with a banjo riff while singing “I used to be an old time nothing,” among other lyrics. The band then opened into Satin In a Coffin, with lots of the crowd starting to mosh and a few members crowd-surfing. 

Continuing with the banjo, King Rat was played, once again with a small, but boisterous few expressing their displeasure. 

Bassist Russell Higbee started into Dramamine, with the rest of the band following. The extended version was played, with Isaac borrowing lyrics from Life Like Weeds. Isaac eventually started screaming into his pickups, with the crowd going bonkers. 

Dashboard followed, with, once again, many in the crowd unhappy. 

Ansel followed, with what was the sloppiest version I have heard thus far. It appeared that Russell perhaps skipped a verse on the pump organ, leaving the rest of the band fumbling to catch up. Isaac appeared a little angry, but they eventually sorted it out and continued with the song.

Missed The Boat came next, with most of the crowd singing along again. 

Shit Luck was next, with large amounts of head banging and moshing from nearly everyone in the crowd.

Education followed, with a truly awesome jam at the end, which appeared to fall on deaf ears. Isaac took a few power chords and turned them into a dancey, raucous outro.

Next was Custom Concern, followed by Black Cadillacs.               The band then took off their instruments, and with not much   of a crowd response, explained that “that’s it.” 

After an encore break, they returned with Poison The Well, which had yet to be played this tour. The bridge seemed to be extended, with a heavy guitar riff, sounding like it could be straight off of Lonesome Crowded West. 

Fire It Up came next, with a large amount of the crowd singing along. 

What followed was hands down, the coolest moment of the three shows I attended. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes was played, with Modest Mouse showcasing what they are all about. The band truly sounded on the same wavelength, allowing Isaac to go off on his guitar, leading a brutal onslaught of ass-kicking magnificence. Tom Peloso was on the upright bass (which I am a sucker for), absolutely rocking, improvising at parts and sounding absolutely in sync with Isaac. Jeremiah pounded the drums, sullen face as always, yet full of the energy that carries these very moments of the band. It truly was a culmination of all that Modest Mouse is: music that makes you want to dance about while simultaneously breaking everything in sight. Isaac moved about the stage, literally pounding his guitar pickups with closed fists, screaming as though the devil himself set up shop inside his soul. 
   Afterwards, Isaac joked with the crowd, explaining one could make millions of dollars off of a “non-sexual, sexual lubricant” that would eliminate the holes in his hand caused by his violent guitar playing. 

Dance Hall was next, with much of the crowd dancing along and chanting with Isaac. 

Ending the night was Bob Dylan’s You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, with members of the crowd, once again, booing. 

Overall, this was a solid show. It appeared that the band was more in sync, which led to some awesome improvisational jamming. The crowd was pretty young, and there were some extremely annoying people that got in the way of the music. The fact that people were booing new songs is just ridiculous: don’t come to a show if you don’t want to hear new music, especially from a band that is in the process of creating a new album. A fight broke out about five feet from me because some drunk guy apparently groped some buzz-cut dick-head’s girlfriend, who spent the next 10 minutes shoving and punching as the crowd tried to separate the two. On top of that, when I was leaving the show, some guy was complaining to me how they played Shit Luck with a “bunch of 22 year olds that don’t deserve to play with Isaac.” I explained that Tom Peloso and Jeremiah Green were both present and have been playing with the band for quite some time. It was also a bit disappointing to hear songs that had been played the previous two nights, with only Poison the Well being an unplayed song. But, I enjoyed seeing Modest Mouse continue to sound more and more as one as the tour continued.  

Prior to the show, I was able to talk to Isaac for a few minutes, who agreed to answer a few questions for me. I asked him how it was working with Big Boi, and he explained “it was fun, we basically smoked a lotta weed with him in the studio. He wasn’t too involved, we were just testing the waters.” I asked if other than Firefly Festival, were there any other unannounced shows he could share. He mentioned “something in Toronto, or maybe Montreal.” He was with Davey Brozowsky, the percussionist filling in, who said “I thought we weren’t doing that anymore, though.” At this point Isaac was moving into the gated off area, so I asked when we could be expecting a new album. He explained “when we finish it,” then grinned. “Nah... we are working on it though.” He moved into the gated area, wishing me a good day. So, it would appear the time spent with Big Boi was more of a time used getting inspired, and no news of a album release date. 

This marks the end of my travels with the band, but shows at Orion Fest in Atlantic City, Governors Ball in New York City, and a final date in Columbus Ohio are still yet to be played, along with Firefly Festival in Delaware, later this summer. 

Here's a link to Fuse's streaming webcast of Modest Mouse at Orion Fest in Atlantic City: http://www.youtube.com/user/fuse

Modest Mouse-DC Night Two

     Modest Mouse finished it’s two night stand at The 930 Club in Washington DC tonight for another sold out crowd.

The band took the stage at 9:50, with frontman Isaac Brock wearing extremely short purple shorts with rainbow sidings. Short shorts in full effect, 5’6 Isaac tore into The Whale Song resembling a playground bully; thrashing and stomping as he struck blows with his guitar. 

Moving into I Came As a Rat, Brock continued his assault, playing 3rd Planet with nearly the entire crowd singing along, specifically “I got this thing that I consider my only of heart of FUCKING PEOPLE OVER!” 

Dashboard was played next, sounding a bit light on Tom’s horn. 

Isaac grabbed his Banjo, literally beating the living shit out of us with King Rat. His shouts of “WELL!” were echoed throughout the crowd, with Tom’s horn finally coming through, meshing perfectly with Isaac’s mumbling. 

Rarely played Heart Cooks Brain followed, with Isaac using a music stand to read the lyrics. He joked with the crowd about how he’d learnt the song in a manner that ensured he would forget it every time he tried to play it. 

Although a bit mellower (is that even possible?) than the night before, Tiny Cities Made of Ashes brought about shuffling from most and full on dancing from others, including myself. 

A tighter, more in sync Ansel was played, with most fans bobbing along and seemingly enjoying it. 

Just when I was getting my bearings straight from the ass kicking delivered by King Rat, Isaac shouted “I got one, two, three, four, five, six six six,” throwing himself into an extremely jammed out version of Breakthrough. Screaming into his pickups, Isaac made it known: He will beat you up and take your wallet, then make you cry in front of your girlfriend. 

Taking a turn for the slower, Bob Dylan’s You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere was covered again, with a bit of jamming towards the end. 

Not wanting to stay slow for too long, Parting of the Sensory built to a deafening crescendo, with a violent mosh pit erupting as Isaac chanted about our eventual return to mere carbon. 

Good News For People Who Love Bad News was showcased next, with Black Cadillacs, World at Large, and The View being played, respectively. The View was hands down my favorite performance of the night, with Isaac’s lyrical excellence in full view: As life gets longer, awful feels softer/ Well it feels pretty soft to me/ And if it takes shit to make bliss, then I feel pretty blissfully. 

     An encore break was taken, with Isaac returning to take a seat at the drum set, with the stage hands on guitar. The rest of the band eventually returning to play Custom Concern. Recently debuted Lampshades on Fire was next, with a few members of the crowd singing along. The bridge, heard 1 minute into the Sasquatch recording, seemed to have been extended with Isaac jamming a bit. 

Just to ensure we wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon, Shit Luck exploded into a barrage of beat downs, once again leaving the crowd moshing and flailing. 

Missed the Boat followed with most of the crowd once again backing Brock on vocals. 

Closing out the night was Trailer Trash, with an awesome ending jam. Tom Peloso took the bass on this one, handling what I consider one of the greatest bass lines ever conceived, impeccably. Isaac added some lyrics from Perpetual Motion Machine throughout the jam, ending the show on a high note. 

Overall, this was an awesome show. Isaac and company sounded a bit tighter and cohesive tonight, eliminating the little mistakes of last night. Tomorrow brings round three with the band... onto Pittsburgh.