Music Menu (4/2/09)

The Hymns I just wrote about these Harrisburg alums, but nothing I saw or heard that night is gonna dissuade me from reminding anyone within eyeshot to get off the couch and go see ’em. Unless of course you’re averse to classic melodies – folks were buzzin’ about the VU, Kinks and Byrds vibes last time – updated and delivered with an all-out rock & roll party assault. Menu colleague Timothy “C the Hymns” Davis recently caught ’em in Nashville, and has given me permission to speak for him as well when I say: “great band, great tunes, ridiculous fun.” Plus, they’re playing with The Whigs and the Sammies – if you need reasons beyond that they’re clearly not music-related. Visulite Theatre (John Schacht)

Erika Blatnik Often categorized – mistakenly, I believe – as a freak-folk-type artist, young Blatnik’s hi-ho speedy delivery as a solo artist seems to owe a little bit more to the Ani DiFrancos of the wor(l)d. There’s a lot packed into each song, to be sure. And she’s certainly got the pipes to pull it off most of the time. One wonders, however, if a little more breathing room (both for her and her audience) might be in order. Consider a band like Tegan & Sara, an act who, once they slowed their roll a bit, found both more fertile artistic ground and the wider audience that those expanded horizons can bring. Regardless, she’s quite talented as is, and remains one to watch. As in, right now. With Ben Henry, Robbie Owen Hale; Pete and J, Jimmy Brown, Ashlee Hardee. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)

The Farewell Drifters This Nashville, Tenn., quintet’s last’n, Sweet Summer Breeze, was one of the more pleasant bluegrass discs I sonically supped all year. Featuring 12 originals and two covers (an excellent take on Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons’ “Wheels”), the boys fall somewhere in the middle between acts like Chatham County Line and The Avett Brothers. There’s definitely a traditional bluegrass element, thanks to the stringband songwriting of guitarist Zach Bevill and mandolinist Joshua Britt. However, there’s an undefinable looseness here too, something akin to what Townes Van Zandt was onto when he penned “Blue Ridge Mountains.” Regardless of your allegiances, well worth your time for traditional music fans who don’t see why you can’t love both Son Volt and Son House equally. The Sylvia Theater, York (Davis)

Watch The Farewell Drifters here:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=k-ro-2bNzhE%26hl%3Den%26fs%3D1

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 7, 2009.