It’s become tradition each year around the Fourth of July for Jon Dee Graham and his backing band the Fighting Cocks to play the basement on either side of their appearance at Fitzgerald’s American Music Festival. It’s also become a tradition that we never get the same pair of Cocks twice. Bassist Andrew Duplantis has been there three of the last four years, but with Joey Sheffield the first time and George Duron the second. George played two years in a row, but with a different bass player the second time. Tonight we were in for a treat, OC John Chipman was back in the drummer’s seat. “OC” as Jon Dee explained it, stands for “original Cock.” His band name used to change on a nightly basis, the Enemies of Progress and the Hill Country Blues Boys was some examples, but after a night with Fred Friction and a bottle of Fighting Cock whiskey at Fred’s Music Lounge in St Louis, they had a name that stuck. I hadn’t seen Chipman since a Resentments gig in Austin the last year I went to ACL, a million years ago, so it was great to have him in the basement. Even better was watching how much fun he was having playing the basement. The six foot four dude looked like a kid behind the drum kit, his smile was so wide. And it was infectious, this might have been the best Jon Dee show yet. I know I say that every time, but I also think it’s true.
From the opening number “A Place in the Shade” it was
apparent that this was going to be a great show. The rhythm section settled into a relaxed
groove while Jon Dee strummed the sweet melody and his lullaby growl of a voice
echoed how comfortable he felt. After
the song he turned to the audience with a big grin. “Here’s how often I play here, I took my
picks out of my pocket to put on the window ledge where they’re handy,” his
smile got bigger, “and there’s already a pile of my picks there.” It’s true, his Madison audience has grown
steadily over the years, as has the regularity of his appearances, propelled
almost exclusively by word of mouth. Most notably from the mouth of brewmaster
Kirby Nelson, who named a beer after one of his songs. Big Sweet Life, naturally in Nelson’s
favorite style a maibock, debuted a few weeks earlier to great reviews. It got a few more rave reviews tonight as
Nelson brought a cooler full in with him.
The irony being of course that Jon Dee doesn’t drink, he lets his band
do the drinking for him. Halfway through
the show they got their first taste of the BSL, and gave it impressively
eloquent reviews.
Most memorable of the new songs was “The Ballad of Barbara
and Steve,” an ode to the owners of a classic enchilada joint/music venue in
San Antonio. The restaurant and its
owners are gone now, but they will never be forgotten thanks to Graham’s sweet
tribute. He tested Chipman later in the
set by springing one he hadn’t played before on him. It had been awhile since I’d heard “Fifty
Cents a Day,“ one of the songs from the Hobart Brothers CD. In fact, it hadn’t been played in the
basement since the Hobart trio of Jon Dee, Freedy Johnston and Susan Cowsill
played it several years ago. He not only
nailed that one, but also Jon Dee’s fake-out on the end of the show-stopping
rocker “October,” where he stops just short of cuing the final beat several
times before following through with a satisfied smile. And like he always does in the basement, he
played a heart-breaking version of “Airplane” and its lead in “I’ll Wait” that
brought tears to my eyes.
Yep, best show yet.
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