Michelle Shocked; May 17, 2012; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music

“It sounds like the answer to my prayers,” was Michelle Shocked’s response to a fan’s suggestion that she play at the House of Righteous Music on a night that had been marked TBA on her calendar forever. The timing could have been better, I already had two shows this week- Will Johnson on Tuesday and Jon Langford on Friday – but I couldn’t say no. I put the fan who had put us in touch in charge of hospitality and said let’s do it. After all, as I said in my show announcement, I once heard Shocked’s excellent song “Anchorage” while shopping at Woodman’s. This was as close to a mainstream artist as KHoRM had ever gotten, even if her mainstream popularity was nearly two decades ago.

I only have one of Shocked’s CDs, Short Sharp Shocked, so I didn’t expect to know many of the songs she played tonight. Surprisingly, I knew quite a few, and I have her iPod to thank. She said as she had been driving from show to show across the country she’d been listening to a lot of music. For some reason that record was on it, and every time one of the songs would come up, she’d think “man, she’s good,” not realizing immediately that it was herself. After an opening set from the audience, which consisted of singalong songs like “This Land is Your Land” and likely worked better in concept than in practice, she went right for the kill, opening with “Anchorage.” This was the updated version, we found out that “the brand new baby girl” in the song had just given birth to her own baby girl, and that they no longer live in Anchorage, in fact she had stopped to visit them on this tour, and most importantly that her friend felt left out because she never gets mentioned by name, “How come it’s all Leroy this and Leroy that?” After she finished she quipped, “some of you might want to just leave right now.” If you had you wouldn’t have heard some of the other great songs from that record like “Old Woman” and “The L & M Don’t Stop Here Anymore.”

There were two themes tonight. One was “Roccupy,” a reference to the Occupy movement that started in New York and gained momentum across the country. In fact, Shocked had been arrested in the breakup of the Occupy LA camp. Shocked has always been political, often using the stage as a platform for her beliefs and this show was as much about that as it was music. She had invited several guest speakers to tell their stories about homelessness and foreclosure and she littered the stage with protest signs and popped a tent on top of the organ.

The other theme was much less heavy and much more artistic. As she set up for her show she unfurled several large banners emblazoned with paintings of iconic women. The first was blues singer Billie Holiday, the second actress Marilyn Monroe, the third artist Frida Kahlo, while the fourth, which she called gratuitous, was of her. The artwork had been done by her “sweetheart,” painter David Willardson, whom she called in the middle of the show. After the audience gave him a hearty greeting, he expanded on his reason for each of the paintings as Shocked held her phone to the microphone. Each of the paintings had an associated song, which she had planned to play on her Casio keyboard. She had been heading up the steps to get it out of her car when she saw the old organ my brother had “donated” to the basement years ago. “Does that work?” she asked. To the best of my knowledge it did. So I vacuumed the cobwebs and wiped the dust off and we moved it to the stage. I sent my brother a picture of her playing it mid-show, “look, Michelle Shocked is playing your organ!” “You mean your organ,” he shot back. At the end of the night I had her sign it.

If that seems like a lot for one show, it was. She played for nearly three hours with only one short break, though she did give people the opportunity to leave earlier. A little after ten she said that if you needed to relieve a babysitter or get to bed, you could leave now, because the show was over. She made the same announcement at 10:30, but continued to play requests until almost 11. With all that was going on this week, I had hesitated to do the show, but in all honesty it may have been one of the easiest shows I’ve done. It sold out in days, Shocked was grateful, and it was a name that people who don’t know any of the other artists I host actually recognize. And that is something.

Will Johnson/Evan Murdock; May 15, 2012; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music

It’s a delight to see Will Johnson’s living room shows turning into an annual event. This was his third consecutive spring visit to the House of Righteous Music, and it’s hard to imagine anyone who embraces the living room concert esthetic more enthusiastically. For his visits Johnson has eschewed the PA, preferring to sing and play unamplified. This setting is much different than his day job with Centro-matic where he usually plays electric guitar with a full band behind him. In fact, it is so different that there are songs he has no idea how to convert from one to the other. It happened when I asked for “Spiraling Sideways” last year, and to another guest’s request this year.

While most of what he plays on these tours is songs from his solo releases, like the gently powerful title track from the Little Raider EP, all Centro-matic songs aren’t automatically off the table. In fact, tonight we got a significant taste of what is slated for their next record, as well as a few selections from last year’s excellent Candidate Waltz. The best of these though was “Flashes and Cables” from what remains my favorite record of theirs, Love You Just the Same (though Waltz is a good second). The haunting song had been the high point of last year’s show, and may have succeeded again as part of a two song encore.

His most recent release found him heading in yet another direction. On New Multitudes he, along with Son Volt’s Jay Farrar, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and frequent KHoRM visitor Anders Parker, took the lyrics of Woody Guthrie and wrote their own music. Johnson just may have stolen that show with his “Chorine My Sheba Queen.” Tonight he chose one of his other excellent contributions, “V.D. City,” introducing it as the only song of the night about venereal disease, to which I had to point out that the night was still young. It’s a surprisingly catchy song, despite its stinging indictment of an amoral lifestyle. To wit, “Must you pay your way to this city with an hour of passion’s desire? I pray that I’ll not see your face here where the millions now burn in flames.”

Last year I hadn’t thought to get an opener until it was too late. This time I didn’t wait till the last minute, and I knew exactly who I wanted. Evan Murdock used to be half of the Kentucky Waterfalls, a much-loved local band, but I have to say I prefer him solo. I figured he would be a good choice to play an unplugged set of his own. Murdock currently plays with a band, but since Johnson was playing solo he only brought his accordion player along. He’s somewhat new to the accordion, as he freely admits, and there were few obvious wrong notes. Those were all forgiven when he compared the instrument to a crabby baby… a heavy, crabby baby. Murdock’s collection of tearjerkers was a good match. I’m already looking forward to next year.


Evan Murdock






Will Johnson

Justin Townes Earle/Tristen; May 8, 2012; The Barrymore Theater

I’m a fan of Bloodshot Records, so I am always happy to see one of their artists doing well, and Justin Townes Earle certainly is. He’s moved up the list of Madison venues to find himself headlining a show at the just under a thousand capacity Barrymore Theater. I’m not a huge fan so it was probably a little strange that I went to this show. Surprisingly, I went for the opener, who happens to be a girl. I had seen Tristen and her band at SXSW, and really enjoyed the adorably petite girl singer. I even described her to a friend as being “twice as cute as (the New Pornographers’) Kathryn Calder. “Unpossible” he replied, and rightly so, but she was pretty delightful just the same.

I was running late and arrived at the box office just as they started their first song. Luckily everyone was waiting for JTE before they stood up so I was able to get close. At first I wasn’t quite sure I liked her as much as I had that first day of SXSW (after all, I did drink a lot that day), but by the third song she had won me over again. She had the endearing habit of introducing a song by either telling us what it was about in the exact words of the title or by saying something so cryptic it didn’t make any sense at all. The best song was the last, a ridiculously catchy number that saw her putting down her guitar and plucking the mike from the stand so she could pace around the stage and wave her arm in the air at the same point in the chorus. I believe that most of the songs in the set are slated for an upcoming record, so I’m waiting to buy a CD. Um, especially because I somehow managed to lose the one I bought at SXSW, it never made it home from Texas.

Once I told people that I was only there for the opener they agreed that she had been a very pleasant surprise, and inevitably asked if I was going to stay for the headliner. I’d paid twenty bucks so I was definitely going to stick around for a little bit. As expected, people filled in the standing room in front of the stage between the bands, enthusiastically awaiting Earle’s appearance. I hadn’t seen him in quite some time, so I was surprised how different he looked. Instead of the trademark suspenders I was used to which seemed to make his stickly figure even gaunter, he sported a suit coat and tie. His hair was longer and he appeared to be going for the Rhett Miller look. He seemed to be adopting a Miller-esque stage presence too, though admittedly in slow motion compared to the excitable Old 97’s frontman. He was funny and charming, and it sounded good too. It certainly didn’t change my life, but I’m glad I stuck around.

Tristen












Justin Townes Earle

Andre Williams & the Goldstars; May 4, 2012; Off Broadway, St Louis and May 5; Rock Island Brewing Company

Andre Williams & the Goldstars; May 4, 2012; Off Broadway, St Louis and May 5; Rock Island Brewing Company

I was working merch at the Bloodshot Yard Dog party during SXSW this year when the label manager introduced me to Kenn Goodman, Andre Williams’ manager. What he didn’t mention was that he is also the keyboard player in the Goldstars, Andre’s backing band, and that nobody calls him Kenn. After finding out I lived in Madison, Goodman, who everyone knows as Skipper, asked if I would like to do merch for their show the following Thursday at the High Noon. Since I didn’t have anything going on, and, more importantly, since I love to sell merch, I said sure. There was a good crowd and I sold a lot of stuff. After the show Skipper asked me if I would travel, and would I like to come to all of their upcoming shows.

I couldn’t make the two following nights, though it sounded like the show at the Hideout with Langford the next night would have been one to be at, but I was able to make these two nights just over a month later. I wasn’t lying when I said I would travel, what I didn’t mention was that I hate to drive. I bought a Megabus ticket to Chicago so I could ride with them. What I didn’t count on was that they would take two cars and that I would be riding with Ralph the bass player, Jason the guitar player and Alex the drummer, none of whom I had met before. It was a little weird at first, but they were super awesome guys and it wasn’t long before I got comfortable.

I had reasons other than a love of standing behind a table that motivated me to tag along this weekend. The first was that Ryan Adams is one of the sound guys at Off Broadway in St Louis. Not Ryan Adams the petulant singer-songwriter, but Ryan Adams former tour manager for Ha Ha Tonka. I’d spent a lot of time with Adams on both coasts and I was looking forward to seeing him in his hometown and meeting his girl, his dog and his moped. I stayed at his place that night and got to meet two of the three, plus got a terrific breakfast. The St Louis crowd was a little thin but very enthusiastic, and I think almost everyone there bought something. Williams certainly put on a good show. He sported not one but two dapper suits, changing out of the maroon suit and into a blue one for the encore. The man who co-wrote “Shake a Tailfeather” hasn’t lost much since then despite being in his late seventies.

He is also very entertaining despite the fact that he is a slightly creepy decidedly dirty old man. Songs like “Jailbait” and “Let Me Put It In” that were risqué when he recorded them sound even sleazier now. Somehow the man known as “Mr. Rhythm” and “The Black Godfather” can get away with a song who’s only lyrics are “Pussy stank, and so do marijuana,” the rest of the song is a catchy surf rock jam from his extraordinary backing band the Goldstars. The show was preceded by a showing of the documentary “Agile, Mobile and Hostile: A Year with Andre Williams” which illustrated how low he had gotten and how far he’s come back. Skipper asked after if it made me cry, I replied it might have if I didn’t know everything was OK now.

The show at the Rock Island Brewing Company wasn’t as big a success. I just don’t think the Quad Cities were ready for Andre. The crowd was even thinner and there wasn’t an encore. I still had a great time. I’ve wanted to visit the RIBCo for a long time, though I was slightly confused as to why something named “Brewing Company” didn’t actually brew anything, though the beer selection was stellar. In fact, the only disappointment was that we didn’t see any clowns at out hotel despite the fact that the sign in the lobby welcomed the Midwest Clown Convention.

I’ll definitely go out with Andre and the Goldstars again, maybe one of these days they’ll take me to Europe with them. I hear they are huge there.

Off Broadway, St Louis

Rock Island Brewing Company, Rock Island, IL

Great Lake Swimmers; May 3, 2012; High Noon Saloon

Over the course of five records the Great Lake Swimmers have gradually lightened up. The band has always specialized in moody, captivating songs, remaining interesting despite their hushed tone. Their most recent release New Wild Everywhere is their most up-tempo to date, and if it isn’t exactly music you can dance to, it is at least a toe tapper. The record had been out barely a month but they took the opportunity at the High Noon to showcase a lot of the new songs. The catchiest of these is the gambler’s lament “Easy Come, Easy Go,” a bouncy irresistible tune which is also their first single. While it doesn’t quite break a sweat, the title track also makes a case for their new image. Until tonight I didn’t know the story behind “Ballad of a Fisherman’s Wife.” Lines like “What if it happened in your backyard, what if it happened to you, I bet you’d go crazy too,” made more sense once he told us that the song was written about the Gulf oil disaster for the Waterways Alliance which is dedicated to protecting the earth’s water.

Smiling lead singer/guitarist and songwriter for the band Tony Dekker seemed genuinely pleased to be in Madison, telling us several times what an honor it was to be back. The band has played here many, many times since I first saw Dekker opening solo for Andrew Bird at Café Montmartre. Yes, Bird at Montmartre, which should give you an idea of how long GLS has had a relationship with our town. There have been many memorable shows over the years, including a show at the chronically chatty Montmartre during which you could have heard a pin drop and appearances at summer festivals the last two years. I managed to alternately embarrass and redeem myself at those by yelling too loud for “Imaginary Bars” which apparently caused the sun to come out on a gray rainy day, and then asking him to repeat it the next year. The only constant member other than Dekker has been multi-instrumentalist Eric Arneson whose electric guitar and (especially) banjo are key to their sound. The several songs in a row that featured the banjo, including the aforementioned “Ballad,” were probably the highlight of the show.

Dekker has always been masterful at selecting covers, Neil Young’s “Harvest,” Tom Waits’ “Innocent When you Dream,” the excellent Carter Family song they played last summer, and tonight was no exception. Tonight’s encore was Gram Parsons’s “A Song for You,” which worked beautifully as a duet with Miranda Mulholland who took Emmy Lou Harris’s part. I’ve said before that I find Mulholland superfluous, she has a lovely voice and is an excellent violinist, but most of the time I don’t want to hear anyone other than Dekker sing. Considering that I find Arneson to be the only necessary band member, I was surprisingly accepting of the new mandolin/guitar player. In fact, other than dreading the inevitable “this is our last song” for the second half of the set, I was pretty much happy all the way around. I love this band more every time I see them.

The Dirty Shirts; May 1, 2012; High Noon Saloon