The Fate & The Fruit Spring Tour 2012

5.18 – Winston-Salem, NC @ The Garage w/ Erin McDermott
5.19 – Asheville, NC @ The Bywater w/ Galen Kipar Project
5.20 – Atlanta, GA @ Tunes from the Tombs Festival
5.21 – Knoxville, TN @ Preservation Pub
5.22 – Knoxville, TN @ WDVX Blue Plate Special (noon)
5.22 – Nashville, TN @ That’s CooL w/ Isaac Hayden
5.24 – Bowling Green, KY @ WBKO-TV Midday Show
5.24 – Bowling Green, KY @ Tidball’s
5.25 – Louisville, KY @ Zazoo’s
5.26 – Lexington, KY @ Buster’s w/ Rooster’s Crow
6.8 – CD RELEASE PARTY! Jackson, WY @ Pink Garter Theatre w/ Elk Attack

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – The Silent Comedy puts on a show that is an ironic, rock ‘n’ roll world away from the band’s namesake.

Looking back into the era of silent films (1900-1920), the physical style of acting was invented to bring comedy to the screen before a synchronized sound was practicable. Think Chaplin and his gags.

But San Diego’s The Silent Comedy brings ruckus energy to stage, a blues-rock-folk hybrid of a cabaret-meets-tent revival show. Heavy on the mustaches, waistcoats and top hats, the quartet is bringing a generation back to life in a way that could only be resurrected through the flashbacks of brothers and bandmates, Jeremiah and Joshua Zimmerman.

“What we do, performance-wise, is reminiscent of a Pentecostal church service because of the way that we were raised,” said Joshua, whose father was a Pentecostal preacher. “What we saw growing up came out once we started touring and playing with the band more. It’s interesting because most people haven’t seen the crazy, revival church service kind of vibe. We traveled the world with our parents and saw some pretty intense things, so our songwriting is actually pretty dark, lyrically. We can’t even write light-hearted stuff.”

The Zimmerman family sold most everything they owned and moved to India, then Spain, and traveled through Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and much of the U.S. before ending up back in California. The worldly adventure didn’t lead directly to The Silent Comedy, but instead the brothers formed an aggressive punk band, Dehra Dun.

“We were listening to really hard stuff during that time, and playing much harder stuff,” Joshua remembered. “But my brother and I naturally wrote some folksy songs, and I think it’s because of the music our dad raised us on … like Bob Dylan and even some old spirituals and blues. [Dehra Dun] just wasn’t doing stuff in that vein, but we wanted to record some of these songs that we had been writing. So we formed this side project and it accidentally turned into a touring, performing band. For a lot of musicians, folk music is just really close to their heart regardless of what they play.”

According to Joshua, the early days of The Silent Comedy were treated extremely loose. They never practiced, and the ever-changing cast of players ranged from six to ten members. Shows became chaotic. As they began filling up local rooms, the choice to take it more seriously contributed to a perpetually growing fanbase.

“At first, it was almost like a contest of who could drink the most and still be able to play. It was madness,” Joshua said. “We stopped getting wasted before the show. Over the years we downgraded the lineup to a four-piece and that has really upped our creativity because we have to cover more ground with less guys. It’s more of a rock band than it used to be.”

The Silent Comedy, at times, reminds me of Modest Mouse or Edward Sharpe with barn-burning grit. In 2010, the band released Common Faults, which won Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Awards that September.

“Making friends on the road is our favorite part about touring. We’ve only been to Jackson once, so we’re looking forward to meeting new people and reconnecting with others.”

The Silent Comedy performs 10 p.m., Sunday, at the Pink Garter Theatre. Free. PinkGarterTheatre.com.

Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE **
This album neared the top of my “Most Anticipated Albums of 2012” wish list, and upon fourth listen, I’m finally wrapping my head around it. It feels strange when you’re a fan of an artist’s previous work and expectations lead you to be put off. What comes to mind as defining this set is a down-and-out swagger, a pendulum that swings between laziness “Movin’ On,” sparse loneliness “Am I that Lonely Tonight” and “Won’t be the Last Time,” and the presence punchy horns with rock/soul feel “Baby’s Got a Bad Idea.”

Earle’s been in and out of rehab over a dozen times, and this material obviously comes from a watered-down low. There’s a vulnerability in his voice and performance that appears brittle, or rather, “Hurting in the worst way / I got no money in my pocket / No place to stay,” as he puts it in “Look the other Way.”

While the magic of Midnight at the Movies is not found here, there’s lyrical honesty and a mood that floats a long way towards a genuine confessional.

Laissez les bon temps rouler
Accordionist of the Year according to the 2007 Zydeco Music & Creole Heritage Awards, Jeffery Broussard will bring his Creole Cowboys to the Center for the Arts for a Zydeco Dance Party. Broussard was a leading member in Zydeco Force, an influential band at the forefront of the nouveau zydeco movement. His accordion and vocals defined this new style of Creole music, incorporating the soulful sounds of R&B into contemporary zydeco music and dance. The show is a fundraiser for Dancers’ Workshop, rounding out the evening with Cajun food and drink, games, prizes, and dance instruction. Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys perform 6:30 to 10 p.m., Saturday, at the Center Theater. Tickets are $5/person or $15/family, available at Dancers’ Workshop. 733-6398.

Targhee closes with outlaw country
From the banks of the Big Wood River in the Hailey-Ketchum area of Idaho, Old Death Whisper formed and developed a repertoire that appeals to rockers, kickers, cowboy angels, old timers, greasers and punks alike. The band’s namesake comes from “Fup”, a short story by Jim Dodge in which “Old Death Whisper” was Grandpa’s moonshine recipe that was handed down to him by the Indians and believed to give eternal life. The country purveyors stick to a simple philosophy: the music should reflect the band’s integrity, its weaknesses and its strengths. Old Death Whisper performs at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, outside at the Trap Bar at Grand Targhee Resort. Free. GrandTarghee.com.

Local musicians perform to support Cuban family
Multi-instrumentalist Larry Hestand recently suffered a near fatal heart attack, but rather than focusing on his own tribulations, he is seeking support for a family that he has been connected to since first studying music in Havana at the Escuella del Arte in the late ‘90s. Sixty-seven year-old Hestand is currently supporting his Santiago de Cuba family and more than a dozen additional individuals, including his at-risk disabled child, an adopted niece and elderly great grandparents. Local musicians Phil Round, Andy Calder, Matt Miles and others that have played with Hestand over the years have come together to entertain – all you have to do is show up and show your support. Fundraiser for Larry Hestand and his at-risk Cuban family begins at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, in the Grand Room at Snow King Resort. 733-3488.

Oh, summer, how music junkies love thee
I love this time of year for its anticipation of the massive intake of summer concerts. Headliner bills are already taking shape, so a little sneak peak is in order. By now, you’ve heard about Teton Valley Foundation’s free Music on Main series in Victor and the lineup that it announced a few weeks ago. Thursdays starting June 28 and continuing through August 16 will feature headliners Andy Frasco and The UN, Blitzen Trapper, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, March 4th Marching Band, Stone Foxes, Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, and Carrie Rodriguez, supported by Mandatory Air, The Shook Twins, Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit, Scott McDougall, The Alta Boys, Random Canyon Growlers, and the Bluegrass Camp Allstars.

The exciting news of masterful indie-pop artist Andrew Bird billed with the earnest rasp of singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten was confirmed last week for August 18, on the back lawn of Center for the Arts. It will likely be billed as Caldera Festival. As for the Center Theater, the only show that has been announced thus far is Robert Earl Keen for June 3, confirmed by the interim talent buyers at 307 Live.
Of course both Grand Targhee Festival lineups are always highly anticipated.

Targhee Fest (July 13-15) will feature a killer mesh of Josh Ritter, Trigger Hippy, Joe Pug, Drive-By Truckers, Brokedown in Bakersfield, JJ Grey & Mofro, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears and Paul Thorn. Confirmed bands for the Silver Anniversary of the Bluegrass Festival (August 10-12) include Leftover Salmon, David Grisman Quintet, Del McCoury Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, Steep Canyon Rangers, Donna the Buffalo, Kanes River, Hot Rize, and Darrell Scott. Save money now by taking advantage of early bird tickets, camping passes, and lodging packages via GrandTarghee.com.

Besides the boredom-busting off-season schedule in place for The Pink Garter Theatre for April and May, add the Screen Door Porch CD Release Party (June 8), Legendary Shack Shakers with The Dirt Daubers (June 12), Buster Blue (June 13), Pimps of Joytime (June 22), Paper Bird (June 30), and Diego’s Umbrella (July 26) to your radar.

The Garter has also secured some killer acts for Concerts on the Commons, a free Sunday series in Teton Village: The Black Lillies (July 22), Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers (July 29), and Silent Comedy (August 5).
June at the Silver Dollar Bar is taking shape with Boondocks (June 1-2), PTO (June 22-23), and Leo Rondeau & Dynamite Tales (June 29-30).
Spread the word!

Break it Yourself ANDREW BIRD  * * * *
Bird’s brand of intellectual pop is fascinatingly quirky, and certainly singular and artistic. He’s a tender constructor, coated by impeccable whistling, guitar and fiddle playing. The pitch-perfect space he lives in is often layered with subtle, yet complex rhythms and Break It Yourself manages to take another step in the effort of career progression. While I have, at times, considered Bird a musician’s musician, his scope here can be as accessible as the catchiest of pop hooks, or as fiercely thought-out as a Bach piece.

Being fairly familiar with a good portion of Bird’s nine studio albums since 1998’s vaudevillian-vibed Thrills, his niche lies in attaining grandiose within his arrangements. In this set, the presence of long, classical-influenced fiddle textures over muted fiddle picking is prevalent, while guitar takes a foundational role. Much of the material seems ideal for his solo performances in which he loops, creating layer after layer of depth and texture of what becomes his music lab.

A local artist friend commented, “His new album is incredible … seems musically calmer, yet lyrically more agitated than normal.” Agreed. Bird will perform at the Center for the Arts on August 18.

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – Spring’s first full moon night will be buttered up by Lake Tahoe’s most revved band as of late – Dead Winter Carpenters. Fresh from completing a successful Kickstarter campaign in which they raised over $12,000 towards the making of their sophomore release, Ain’t it Strange, the quintet formed and created its home base in Tahoe in early 2010 after a chance meeting at a California festival.

“A few of us were living in San Francisco and a few of us in Tahoe. We met through mutual friends and we were playing in two separate bands that were reaching their respective tenures,” explained guitarist/vocalist Jesse Dunn. “Tahoe has been absolutely amazing. The area has welcomed us with open arms and built a strong community around the band. We’ve been selling out our hometown venue, the Crystal Bay Club, and that support has been incredible.”

Joining Dunn, Dead Winter Carpenters stir the pot with five parts of creative force from Jenni Charles (fiddle/vocals), Dave Lockhart (upright bass), Sean Duerr (guitar/vocals), and Ryan Davis (drums, vocals). With folk-rock at the helm, the band’s original material brings elements of country and bluegrass, and a dash of rock ‘n’ roll for the soul. Their music sits in a laidback, straightforward frame, reminiscent of a less jammy String Cheese Incident before they went techno. While slanted towards traditional via Charles’ fiddling, there are elements of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue-type rock escapades to their live show.

Ain’t it Strange is a follow up to D.W.C. (2010). The forthcoming release was completed a few weeks ago and will be released next month.

“It’s leaps and bounds from our original album,” Dunn said, “as far as engineering and production goes and overall scope of the sound is bigger. The songwriting relates to being on the road constantly, being away from home, and the wanderlust and loneliness that come along with that. And there’s also a murder ballad on there.”

For an independent band like Dead Winter Carpenters, being based in a mountain town has its pros and cons. The situation at the gas pump is making it harder to reach all of the markets that they have sights on.

“That’s the tough part about being a Western mountain state band is that everywhere is far, and gas has gone through the roof,” Dunn said. “We just bought a diesel van in hopes of saving money and miles in the long run, and then two weeks later we read about gas prices likely breaking records this summer. In the East, you can play a different market just an hour and a half away. But that’s the price you pay for living in a cool place.”

As the band hauls from town to town through the Northwest, Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains this spring and summer, I wondered if they see any shows themselves.

“I rarely get to see many shows anymore, and when I’m home I like to stay at home. My favorite performer is Neil Young, and lately – at some of the festivals – we got to see Gillian Welch, Ween, Dr. Dog, and Todd Snider … they all put on good live shows.”

Dead Winter Carpenters perform at 10 p.m., Friday, at Pink Garter Theater. Tickets are $10/advance or $12/day-of-show, and available at PinkGarterTheatre.com.

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – G. Love comes off as a cool cat. Off the bat, he wants to know about the snow conditions.  The avid surfer grew up skiing, then switched to snowboarding, and is looking forward to hanging on the mountain for a day after his performance at Mountain Fest.

“My drummer [Jeffrey Clemens] doesn’t approve of me doing too many extreme sports while I’m on tour,” joked G. Love, a.k.a. Garrett Dutton. “One time when we had first put the band together in ‘93, I had skateboarded over to a rehearsal. When I went to leave I was like, ‘Where the fuck is my skateboard?’ Jeff was driving off, and he had taken my skateboard from me and I never saw it again.”

Mountain Fest is becoming a storied tradition. Think back to the inaugural 2006 Fest with Blues Traveler, then through the years with The Wreckers (hmm…), Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ozomatli, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, and Katchafire. The opportunity to crush the slush, cheers the beers, and reflect on your own ski-season experiences with your good buddies is the gateway to off-season. And now we kick-it with the acoustic hip-hop/blues, self-proclaimed “ragmop,” of G. Love and Special Sauce.

Love and Sauce played the Mangy Moose Saloon a couple of times in the late ‘90s and around 2000, during a time when the band was enjoying a strong career foundation. G. Love had released three albums and formed a record label with his manager, Philadelphonic Records. Though based out of Philadelphia, the band got its start in Boston.

The trio’s self-titled debut album had two noteworthy singles, “Baby’s Got Sauce” and “Cold Beverage,” the latter of which gained the group popularity through MTV. Incessant touring, though, is what ultimately grew the fanbase, and in 1995, they landed a spot on the first H.O.R.D.E. tour with Dave Matthews, Rusted Root, Blues Traveler and others.

“It all starts and ends with the music,” G. Love said about his long career. “My career has been interesting. I was one of the last generations of acts to get signed that were considered developing acts. Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, moe … we were all signed around the same time. One generation after that was Jack Johnson and The White Stripes. And nowadays it’s a free-for-all, it’s kind of like the Wild West. There are no rules. It’s the people’s choice.”

G. Love’s latest solo release, Fixin’ to Die (2010), is a step away from the funky stylings.  Instead, there’s a heavy delta blues influence, including Blind Willie McTell’s “You’ve Got to Die,” and the album’s title is named after Booker “Bukka” Whites’ classic. Add in Paul Simon’s “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover,” a handful of G. Love originals, and studio appearances from The Avett Brothers (who also produced the album), and you’re left with a very rootsy, singer-songwriter album that, according to Love, “brings me back to my days as a coffee shop player and street musician.”

Joining Love on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Special Sauce still features longtime drummer “The Houseman” Clemens, as well as more recent member, bassist Timo Shanko. “Timo has been in our family since the beginning and is one of the greatest musicians in the world, really,” said Love. “We were a four-piece with an organ for about six years, and it’s been really exciting to return to the three-piece. The show now is more raw, with power and energy. There’s a lot more tension and release. It’s happening.”

Read about opening band, Elk Attack, here.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Mountain Fest presents G. Love and Special Sauce, 5:30 p.m., Saturday, in the Teton Village parking lot. Local indie-folk/rock quintet Elk Attack opens. Free. For a full schedule of events, visit JacksonHole.com.

Renaissance Man
Charlie Parr is from a different era; a time-traveled finger-picker of the old-time. I always thought that he was much older than he really is (43 years-old). He’s a humble, prolific, realistic, intense roots performer that Twin City, Minn., musicians look up to. Many of his 10 albums are out of print, some are available on vinyl, and he travels alone—with guitar, banjo, and “one foot in the grave.” A contemporary protagonist of what’s left of the folk tradition in the form of traveling acts, Parr is very much what you see is what you get. And for that reason, Dornan’s is the perfect room. What’s Good Here Productions presents Charlie Parr, 8 p.m., Wednesday, at Dornan’s in Moose. Tickets are $15, available at Valley Bookstore and Dornan’s. 733-2415.

Funky life force
“Damn, this band is so funky!” exclaimed a music fanatic friend during Orgone’s last show in town. Soul-jazz-funk in the vain of The Meters, Booker T. & the MGs, Grant Green and Funkadelic squeezed into one, Orgone (pronounced with a long second “o”) is heavy on pulsing groove. Cee Lo Green enlisted them for his multiple Grammy-winning track, “Fool For Love,” as well as major label records for Alicia Keys (Teenage Love Affair), Estelle (Pretty Please), Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and others. The eight-piece features a part-time female vocalist, Niki Crawford, interspersed with heavy, percussion and horn-driven instrumentals. Orgone performs 10 p.m., Wednesday, at The Pink Garter Theatre. Tickets are $10 advance and $12 day-of-show at PinkGarterTheatre.com.

Turntables in the Tetons
At the intersection of urban and world music, New York City DJ/producer/re-mixer Nickodemus has used funk, folk, jazz, hip-hop, house and dub to push a message of peace, awareness and love for the dance. His remixes and collaborations have been heard on hundreds of compilations as well as TV shows like Sex in the City and Dancing With the Stars, while his remix resume includes Billy Holiday, Nina Simone and Thievery Corporation, among others. Nickodemus, DRM, Eric Burba, Cut La Whut, and Jefe will start the pulse at 9:30 p.m., Friday, at the Pink Garter Theatre. Tickets are $12 advance or $15 day-of-show, available at Pinky G’s or PinkGarterTheatre.com.

A few years ago on a similar March day as today, I had a similar run of excitement on the same fishing hole near Wilson, Wyo. The series of riffles is widespread and built for spring fishing–slow and shallow, yet varying in underwater rock structure. This was maybe my 4th day out this year. Nothing compares to a great spring day of dry fly fishing on the Snake when large Cutthroat aren’t scared to school and gorge in the laziest of locations. Today was the first time I managed to be in the right place at the right time.

In two separate windows of time lasting around 10-15 minutes each, there were seven to ten fish rising very close to compadre, Harper, and I. The gnat hatch was thick, and I could tell that several of the Cuttys would put up a wicked fight. This one worked me for about fifteen minutes and had my knees shakin’. Damn, that was fun…