500 Miles to Memphis

A friend and I went to see 500 Miles to Memphis this past Thursday night. From Cincinnati, their performing here was facilitated in large part by Dutch Henry, http://www.dutchhenry.net , my favorite local band. We had heard that 500 Miles... was playing a double bill at a nearby blues plus venue. We didn't know what to expect, other than DH loves them and that having Memphis in their name probably had some element of twang to their music.

The first thing I noticed as they were setting up was the cowboy hat and red boots of the steel guitar player.

Let me tell you, if you get a chance to see these guys perform, doit. The lead singer has a pure voice. It's a horrible shame that the sound system -- or the person in charge of the sound system -- was unsuccessful in making the lyrics clear enough to know what the words were. The bass player is energetic, talented, and cute as hell. The drummer, I found out later, was a fill-in who plays in at least one other group in Cinci with the bass player. He is also talented. The standout musician in the group for me is the "lap guitar"/keyboardist! Holy Moly.

I bought a CD after the show and have listened to part of it. It's amazingly better when you can hear the words! And the lead singer's voice absolutely grows on you.

The music....... what genre....... real hard to pin down. It's an interesting combination of twang, punk, and pop. On the CD you'll also hear fiddling. There is no way you can make music with a steel guitar and fiddle and not have a twang designation. The punk part is a component as well, but punk in a milder sense. The lead and the bass player have a more grunge look about them, and the sit-in drummer looks more punkish. The popness comes from their youth and their hooks. The lyrics are twang.

Click on the title and it will take you to 500 Miles to Memphis' website. They are better than anything you will hear on the suckass radio stations that dominate the airwaves.

Click on this link to listen at myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=13477955