REMY ST. CLAIRE He cites a bevy of brooding Byronic influences: Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt and blues hellhound Son House – a “mad, bad and dangerous to know” bunch if ever there was one. But in performance, Remy St. Claire is more akin to the mighty Tims – Tim Buckley and Tim Hardin. Like these fellow cult troubadours, St. Claire’s vocals can be heavenly – soft and cottony at one end, high and soaring on the other. It’s a nice contrast to music that frequently skirts the hazy hellish swamp rock of Nick Cave or Mark Lanegan, with songwriting that plumbs the darker, danker depths of the subconscious. But bits of Skynyrd-fried Southern rock and ’70s AM radio hits bubble up from the voodoo tar pit. Free. Common Market, Plaza Midwood.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2012.
