Aaron Davis

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – Welcome to progressive Americana Week. Let’s go ahead and call it The Teton Americana Winter Invitational. By coincidence, all of these bands will be playing varying nuances of contemporary American roots music in Teton County in the coming week: Greensky Bluegrass, Matt Flinner Trio, Great American Taxi, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Head for the Hills, Random Canyon Growlers, Screen Door Porch, Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats, Boondocks, Steam Powered Airplane, Jackson Six, and One Ton Pig.

Disclaimer: this is a made up festival name and concept, but yes, all of these bands are on the calendar. Seven venues in a five-day period, and shows range from free to $15.

Zooming-in on Greensky Bluegrass, it’s immediately evident that this hardly strictly newgrass unit has the goods. With so many progressive bluegrass acts on the road in recent years, developing a distinguished modern take with bluegrass instrumentation has become a hard line to cross. Greensky helps define a new era of hair-band grass that brings folk harmonies, jam elements and [ Read the rest of this entry ]

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)

Two nights of psychedelic soul
Referred to as black rock, or psychedelic soul is the sound developed in the late 60s ala Curtis Mayfield. San Francisco’s Monophonics—formed in 2005—have genuinely sunken into the slow burn, textured by punchy horns and patiently soulful vocals. Contemporaries like Sharon Jones & The Dapkings bring the in-your-face James Brown side of this warm, vintage sound, while Monophonics prefers the hard-hitting backseat of funk-soul (YouTube cue: “Like Yesterday”). Be prepared for a funky dance party via this sextet. Poppa Presents hosts Monophonics, 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at the Pink Garter Theater. Tickets are $8/advance or $10/door. PoppaPresents.com.

Flinner brings Winter Harvest
There are mando players, and then there are eight-string tweakers in the league of Chris Thile and Sam Bush. If you haven’t already been introduced, take a chance to meet Matt Flinner on Tuesday. Flinner prefers to tunesmith daily—while on tour!
All members of his trio, which also features exciting instrumentalists Ross Martin on guitar and Eric Thorin on upright bass, are responsible for writing, rehearsing and performing a new instrumental composition for each venue. Over the course of 70 shows resulting in over 200 tunes to date, the string band handpicked a new collection for their January 31 release, Winter Harvest (Compass). Show up and see what they harvest for you.
Matt Flinner Trio performs at 8 p.m., Tuesday, at Dornan’s in Moose. Tickets are $15, available at Valley Bookstore and Dornan’s. 733-2415.

Americana without borders
Produced by Todd Snider, Great American Taxi rolls into town with Paradise Lost, an album that has occupied the Top Ten Americana airplay chart in recent weeks. Dubbed “electrified folk music for our times” [ Read the rest of this entry ]

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)

Handguns GREENSKY BLUEGRASS
There’s a lot of contemporary grass that passes by my ears without reprise. My old grassy standbys are Monroe, Old & in the Way, John Hartford, Doc Watson and Grisman. The late 90s/early 00s onslaught of jamgrass ala Yonder Mountain String band and before they went techno, The String Cheese Incident, was interesting at first, but now sounds diluted.

But Handguns has re-sparked my interest. Known for lengthy improvisational jams and extended suite-like songs, this Michigan-based unit seems meticulous in its writing, especially lyrical phrasing. The New Grass Revival-meets-Railroad Earth vibe is one of its own, veering off the tried and true with songs like “All Four”—a near 12-minute musical odyssey that expands boundaries yet never loses steam.

A cohesive unit with equal weight in instrumental prowess, the double-stopping drive of Anders Beck’s dobro is an asset that shines on “Beauty and Pain” and “Blood Sucking F(r)iends.” The addition of pedal steel (“Handguns”), horns (“I’d Probably Kill You”), kazoo and slide (“Hot Dogs (On Parade)”), and effects (“Before Bring Out Your Dead”) reminds one that this ain’t daddy’s grass.

tags: jackson hole show music musician live band singer songwriter nightlife concerts wyoming center arts photographer planet teton venues screen door porch boondocks guitar cd reviews

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)

Did you just say Triple-Bill?
Vibraphone-whacking percussionist Mike Dillon has been described as “a brutal, yet meticulously deranged blast of raw, jazz-rock power.” Dillon’s heroes Black Sabbath, The Minutemen and Bad Brains have internalized a punk ethos into a rage-against-the-machine spirit – punk to funk, rap to rock. His collaborations and band names are piling up: Ani DiFranco, Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade, Garage a Trois, Mike Dillon’s GoGo Jungle, Hairy Apes BMX, Dead Kenny G’s, and Critters Buggin, Billy Goat. That aside, let’s contemplate a set of Yo Jimbo Funk – a truly non-directional sounding, vaguely-described “bodacious blend of funk, hip-hop, rock and improvised experimentation that gives you the urge to shake your body and scream-just like Carly!” Top it all off with a set of Jackson’s own Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit, and you’ve got one hell of a quirk à trios. Mike Dillon, Yo Jimbo Funk & Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit perform at 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at the Knotty Pine in Victor. Admission is $8 at the door. 208-787-2866.

Identical folk
Portland’s Shook Twins – sisters Laurie and Katelyn joined by upright bassist Kyle Volkman – are becoming a staple to Grand Targhee’s Trap Bar. Folkies at the core, sibling harmonies are supported by banjo and guitar, sometimes venturing out-of-the box with looping, effects and even beat boxing. The happy go-lucky, quirky folk trio originated in their hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho. The Shook Twins play at 3 p.m., Sunday, in the Trap Bar at Grand Targhee Resort. Free. GrandTarghee.com.

One kick-drum is not enough
Oh, man. I get it – four kick-drums on the floor. Ok. No bass player. Double guitars, a full drum kit, and three dudes [ Read the rest of this entry ]