A Soiree, a Battle and a Concert - Live Music in the QC

Usually I give a rundown of the shows I attended over the weekend, but this week I’m going to start with a Tuesday evening soiree at the RME Café. I promise there is weekend action involved here too, but not the action you might expect… I completely skipped Street Fest this year. So what did I do instead? Read on…

I’ve written about Chastity Brown before. Her blues-roots-rock-leave-em-wanting-more style of music really reaches me. And I have yet to see her play with her full band. I’m hoping that one day a local venue will book her band so we can see the whole show. The last time she was here, she opened for Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellies. They were good, but I bought her CD. This time, she headlined and brought her own opener, Miss Barbara Jean. Barbara Jean is a versatile musician, a virtuoso violinist who also plays viola, guitar and banjo. The two artists shared Brown’s keyboard player and bassist, and collaborated on a few songs as well, with Brown providing stomp and handheld percussion. I’m beginning to see the stomp box as part of Chastity’s signature style. Although on closer inspection, it looks like she graduated from the cigar-box-stomp to something a little sturdier.

There is much more to Chastity Brown than her stomp-box skills though. I’ve seen her mastery at guitar and banjo, but what really strikes me is her voice. She has this way of connecting with an audience, whether through her storytelling, or the soul-filled “Solely“. Brown pours her heart out through her voice, and the result is something so beautiful to evoke goosebumps and even a few tears. If you haven’t seen Chastity Brown already, watch for her return… or if you happen to be in her stomping grounds of the Twin cities, look to see if she’s playing there and catch a show. You won’t be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night was the final installment of the first round competition in the RME Rock Wars. This week two bands of seasoned musicians faced off: 1^st Impression and The Mississippi Misfits. The Mississippi Misfits took the stage first and played a blues-rock set that ranged from Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Pink Floyd covers to their own original music. Ren Edstrand’s guitar solos brought whoops of approval from the audience.

 

 

1^st Impression brought their party-rock and audience participation show to the Redstone Room stage for the first time Friday night. Their set included covers from Aerosmith to Grace Potter to Fallout Boy as well as original music. When she wasn’t exhibiting her vocal prowess, Becky Anson was encouraging the audience to participate and sing along. 1^st Impression will be facing The Post Mortems in the next round this Saturday.

 

Saturday night I traveled to Muscatine to meet up with the 1^st Impression folks as they opened for Frankie Ballard on the Great River Days stage. The evening began with a Grazin’ District reunion set. I arrived in the middle of their set, but not too late to catch their rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.  Later I joked with Colin Keemle that when I arrived, I thought for a brief moment that I was at a Dirt Road Rockers gig.

 

1^st Impression was next up. In 2011 they won a battle of bands contest at Great River Days to secure this spot in 2013. This time, the band hand-picked an hour of their favorite crowd-pleaser songs and brought the party to GRD. The audience danced, jumped up and down, and sang along.

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie Ballard brought a mix of country originals and classic covers to the Great River Days stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week:

There’s a Fair in town, as well as the Bix Biederbecke Jazz festival, and see last night’s post for information about a local band festival.

Tonight – Nervous Rex is at Bass St. Landing, Chris Avey Band is at Rascals, and I’ll be joining Lee Blackmon at It’s On The River. Pepper Jacks has joined the open mic/jam night arena with a Thursday night open mic.

Friday – Friday Live at 5 in the RME Courtyard is featuring Nervous Rex, Keep Off The Grass is at the 11^th Street Precinct, and Martinis on the Rock has Crossroads. Sin City is playing the River House, Lee Blackmon is at Rustic Ridge, and The Muddy Waters has The Mercury Brothers. BierStube has the Zeitgeist fest, including Rude Punch, Atlantis Dialogue, Boomstick, Dead Forms, and Zed. Lonely Hearts, Chrash, and Sub Atlantic are at Rozz-tox. RIBCO has Sons of SAMM and Battle Red. Rascals has a two-night run with Halo of Flies and The Blowups.

Saturday – Crossroads is at Greenbriar, RIBCO has Rude Punch, and The Muddy Waters is hosting the Scott Ellison Band. Funktastic Five is at Mulligans, The River House has Identity Crisis, and Smooth Groove is at Martinis on the Rock. Cosmic is at the 11^th Street Precinct, Bent River has the Franti Project, and Jason Carl is playing Barrel House 211. 1^st Impression is taking on The Post Mortems in the Semi-Final round of the RME Rock Wars in the Redstone Room. Showtime is 8:00.