As I drove home from work in the steady snow the day after Superbowl Sunday, I caught a glimpse of the Fox Theatre marquee out of the corner of my eye. Will Hoge and Jason Isbell. "Damn, I wanted to see those guys... oh, well."Got a call on the cell phone around an hour later. Danny had a free ticket to the Jason Isbell show that night at the Fox. But did I REALLY want to go? I waivered. It was snowing heavily outside and it was a school night to boot. Who was I fooling?! "What the hell! Let's do it." I know I'll look back fondly on this decision. Between the floating flakes of white and the crisp chill of the air I was in the mood for some honest music. The type of music that is unpretentious and raw, powerful in it's unanticipated familiarity. Like comfort food for the soul.
Dan and I drove to the venue around 8:30, down the slick winding road known as Broadway, then slid down the snow packed sidewalks into the venue. The opening act had already taken the stage and we sauntered down to the rail above the floor for a look and listen.
I was immediately struck by Jeremy Fisher's crisp, clean voice. He has a brilliant range that reminded me of a slightly more bluesy (less white bread) version of James Taylor. Coupled with some strong song writing, his music is at once refreshing and familiar. His guitar playing was very solid and his stage presence engaging. He has a boy next door quality to his personality that appeals to genders on both sides of the aisle. He cracked a few jokes and played with an earnest energy. It felt like he was playing to a room full of friends. I will definitely be coming out to see this guy when he comes our way again (please make it our way again!).
video clip: Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher
After a short break Will Hoge and his powerful band came out and proceeded to win over the sparse crowd. 9:30 on a Monday and maybe 50 people are in attendance. Sad but true. Undeterred, Will Hoge continued chewing his gum like he was fronting the Foo Fighters and belted out wicked vocals like he was Chris Robinson. Note to self: "Damn, this man can sing."
His band played adequately, but when paired with the X factor of Will Hoge they kicked average songs into high gear. Simple and sweet melodies gave way to full tilt rockers.
Will's set was extended by several songs, possibly due to the weather interfering with the travel of the headliner. Or possibly due to the promoter hoping more people might be venturing out into the snow at that very moment. But who cared?! Will and his band only got better as they played and by the time they played one of the their signature songs, Silver and Gold, I remember thinking "this is going to be a hard act to follow." Straight ahead rock and roll doesn't necessarily always satisfy. But this Nashville act had just enough polish and just enough passion to play to this audience of 60 like they were the last people that would hear their music.Okay, maybe I felt a little bad for these guys. They had obviously driven a LONG way in the snow for this gig and there was no one there. It is a crying shame that three acts of this caliber did not have a decent crowd to bask in their music. And make no mistake, it was not an easy drive for these guys coming over the Rockies from Salt Lake City during a decent sized snow storm. But folks from the Boulder/Denver area should not have had any excuse. We deal with this kind of weather all the time.
But I digress.
Jason Isbell finally takes the stage and plays a couple of slow tunes to start. Eh. Whatever. The drama was lost on me. But then the keyboardist ran to the green room and grabbed a handle of Jack and passed it around. Jason loosened up and the blues started pouring forth. Power and soul from a guy that looks like he might have just decided to blow off his senior year in college to go on the road. But make no mistake, he is no accidental talent. His song writing ability is sneaky in it's simplicity. I felt like I was getting to know this guy, this kid who I'd never met or even really heard of until he left Drive By Truckers, through the lyrics and melodies.
He treated the sparse crowd to a cover of a beloved Van Morrison tune, Into the Mystic. A live version of this song which was recorded in November is being released by Twist and Shout any moment now.
Johnny Hickman from Cracker was in attendance in the audience and was invited up at one point to play a tune with the band. A decent song, but his presence at this show underscored the sad reality the lack of attendance presented.
In the end this was a very satisfying and enjoyable evening of music. Each artist was strong in their own right. While I wouldn't say I was totally blown away the music good enough to keep me out long enough to close the Fox on a Monday night... But you know me, I'll trade a good night's sleep for good old-fashioned honest music any day of the week.
Grab a bit torrent of this show HERE
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