| ...just got back from a great 3-day road trip.
It's Summer,
I have a new car (a 90 Ford
Probe) and the Summer
Session is movin' across the country. The 1st date was in Birmingham
but I couldn't quite make that. I, instead, headed to Knoxville,
TN. The drive was
great. And I tell you what...East
TN and the Cumberland
Plateau are absolutely beautiful areas, even when it's 101 degrees and
the air conditioner in your car doesn't work.
For those who don't know, Summer Session is a small tour similar to what H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) was it's 1st couple of years. There are 4 main acts and 3 acoustic acts. The lineup changes daily, just like the setlists of the bands involved. The bands all intermingle and jam together in the spirit of freedom and art. The main acts are: Galactic from New Orleans, Gov't Mule from Atlanta (sorta), moe. from upstate NY and The String Cheese Incident from Colorado. The acoustic acts are: Gibb Droll, Kevin Kinney and Keller Williams. Out West they will pick up Phil Lesh & Friends, man do I wish I could make some of those shows! :-( Anyway... Knoxville was so hot! Oh, I mentioned that already. :-) After we tapers shuffled around with our taping gear SCI came on. Now, I'd heard them on tape and I'd heard one of their CDs and I was hoping a live performance would change my mind about them and turn me into a fan or, at least, help me appreciate them more. This performance did no such thing. These guys are very talented, there's no doubt, but their music falls flat with me. For some reason I can't get the hang of "jamgrass". Strange b/c I love Bela & Newgrass & the related. They played for an hour and Keller Williams came to the side of the stage to play a short 15min set. I've seen Keller a couple of times and he is one of the more interesting artists I've seen. He reminds me of a folkie Michael Hedges crossed with Bobby McFerrin. Next up was moe.. This band is cool. Although some of their jams seem disjointed. It's almost like Chuck and Al aren't playing off one another but against. Now when the band synchs up it's very hot, they are all really good players and they have added a percussionist who adds some really nice textures to the songs. They pick really cool covers and they write fun and challenging songs. I enjoyed this set although I was a bit preoccupied with friends and wandering. After their hour long set Gibb Droll came out for his 15min of fame. Gibb is a great blues based guitarist and songwriter but he did not translate well to acoustic, at least in my world. Soon the Sun started dropping although the temperature is not (did I mention how hot it was!?!) and I was waiting on one of the 2 main reasons I went to Summer Session...the mighty New Orleans funk of Galactic! Here is a band that I heard about just a couple of years ago. They are big with the Widespread Panic crowd and I quickly fell in love with what they do. Instrumentally they are a cross b/t the Meters, Medeski Martin & Wood and Booker T & the MGs. We are talking funky, funky jazz! BUT what they have in addition is the gritty soul of Theryl deClouet aka The Houseman. This Brotha can SANG! He's got that weather beaten voice that gets me every time. He reminds me of Wilson Pickett. He struts out on stage gettin the crowds attention with one of those NOLA phrases; "Where ya'll at? Knoxville!" After one song he invites the one and only Warren Haynes to the stage to join in on a Galactic song about life, the Houseman says "(we) got to Change, (we) got to Reform". You know, I've been watching Warren play for a long time and he is the first professional musician I have ever witnessed who continually gets better. It is amazing to me to watch somebody who is already one of the best musicians out there and he continues to show growth. Warren played some of the coolest slide. He played vocal harmonies and call/response with Theryl and just some cool ass fills. Warren & the Houseman walked off and the Galactic core continued the funk. The set ended with a crazy Stanton Moore solo. Stanton Moore is a great and creative drummer who broke out his "flo' tom" (a floor tom with an air tube to change the pitch) and some sort of midi trigger which he loops his drums and plays over that...very cool. Kevn Kinney is a good friend of Warren Haynes; Warren produced Kevin's soon-to-be-released record, so it's appropriate that Kevn come on b4 the Mule. Kevn comes from the Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan school of singing/songwriting. To many that is very annoying but he grew on me. I remember "Fly Me Courageous" but I really never got an impression of Kevn. He's a very good songwriter but I was getting anxious for the Mule.
Gov't Mule is a very consistent band. There are many good shows, some exceptional shows but few bad shows. This one was a keeper. It had many elements of some older shows, mainly the song selection. As much as they come up with new songs the band still throws in some older tunes. The surprise of the night was a great version and my 1st time seeing "Lively Up Yourself". The song was dedicated to Ziggy Marley who was a no-show in Knoxville, the Mule sense of humor strikes again! The band played very well. The one thing I noticed was how sweet Warren's tone was. He does have one of the warmest, sweetest tones around but in Knoxville it was nicer than normal. The night ended with a beautiful Soulshine, one of Warren's best songs. The Mule was joined by Kyle Hutchinson, the keyboardist for SCI. He stuck mostly with the B3 organ, which was so very nice. The show ended and all the tapers packed up. I wandered near the buses chatted for about 45min with Allen Woody and Sharisse. Great people. I then headed on towards Atlanta and another great day of music. The best part of the Summer Session is the respect between the bands and the audience. All of these bands are still playing clubs small enough where they get to know their fans. It's nice to know and be known by members of the crew and band. The other thing is the willingness of these musicians to put their talents and egos on the line by sitting in with the other bands. This respect and appreciation is. in my opinion what music should be about. More later... Click here to return to Jai's Place. Page Two Page Three My Other writings |