Shovels and Rope were supported by Futur Primitif which is the new project from singer/songwriter Daniel Lefkowitz who, on the night, performed solo on an electrified acoustic guitar which was wired up to provide a grunge sound. Normally an electric duo, Futur Primitif has an album out called Machineteeth which was recorded live with a full band. The following is from their Facebook page:
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| Daniel Lefkowitz |
Machineteeth drifts through garage band rock and roll numbers, abandoning the persistent topic of love in exchange for an extended riff on the new, globalized American landscape. Described by an early critic as, "John Cougar Mellencamp meets Pavement," it's surely the most anticipated motorcycle accident since Bob Dylan.”
Unfortunately, Daniel didn't ‘float my boat’ and his songs didn't work for me as solo material, however, the album is a much better prospect and worth checking out (on Spotify if you don’t want to shell out for the full priced album). I like Digital Space, Machineteeth and the lengthy Kissinger’s Lips, all of which work so much better with the full work out.
Now for the main course! Shovels and Rope were just fabulous from the first bars of their opener Birmingham to their final number which they played as if it were an encore, stating that they would forego the usual nonsense of leaving the stage, waiting whilst we all clapped, whooped and hollered and then returning to the stage feigning ‘surprise’! I thought it was in keeping with their refreshing, down-to-earth approach to their trade.
So for those of you, like me, who don’t know much (if anything) about the band, Shovels & Rope are an American folk duo from the coastal town of Charleston, South Carolina and have been on the go since about 2010. The band is composed of husband and wife duo, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst and on the night Cary looked every inch the southern belle in her red gingham dress, an inch of petty coat showing at the hem and calf length cowboy boots, whilst Michael turned up for his work dressed like a middle management office worker, suit and open necked shirt! Oh, and should anyone be looking for a couple of young look-a-likes for Bette Midler and our very own 'talking head' David Byrne (he was born in Dumbarton, Scotland) then look no further. I would go as far as to suggest that if their more famous doppelgangers were to form a band then Shovels and Rope might just be exactly what they would look and sound like!
Their sound is based on traditional country music/blues/folk rock/bluegrass, but given a twist in the unusual way it is delivered using the simple but very effective instrumentation. Their influences are rooted in the soulful, gritty sounds of Townes Van Zandt (Cary named her dog after him!), Elvis Costello, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Loretta Lynn to name but a few and they perform soul filled harmonies in the style of Johnny Cash and June Carter. I was also put in mind of another great husband and wife duo, Buddy and Julie Miller. On the night they played much of their current album O’ be Joyful, stand out songs for me were Hail, Hail, Kemba’s got the Cabbage Moth Blues, Keeper and the title song O’ be Joyful. Added to the set list were a few songs from earlier albums including Boxcars and Gasoline from the 2008 album Shovels and Rope and Hell’s Bells from the 2011 album Lions and lambs.
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| Cary & Michael |
Musically these two are a lesson in minimalism or at least DIY music. On stage there were a couple of guitars, a bass drum with a tambourine tied to it by two bandanas, a snare drum, umpteen drum sticks, a leather bound maracas, a couple of ‘mouthies’, a mini, mobile keyboard and a cymbal, which amusingly was at arm’s length from the drum ‘kit’! This allowed the pair to get up close and personal, as only lovers can, on the drum kit mic. In fact, the chemistry between Cary and Michael was a feature of the show, with the flirtatious and flamboyant Cary often looking longingly at the steady, studious, sweaty Michael. As an aside, I haven’t seen a performer perspire as profusely since I saw Norman Watt-Roy backing the wonderful Wilco Johnson earlier this year!
The show started with Michael on percussion, beating out a joyful rhythm on the drums with two inverted drum sticks in his left hand and the maracas in his right, whilst Cary was on electrified acoustic guitar. This was the ‘line up’ as seen on their American TV début on 30 January this year on the Late Show on which David Letterman suggested that Michael does all the hard work as a one man band whilst Cary sings and strums guitar! The truth is somewhat different as we were to find out as soon the two were swapping places and instruments on a regular basis and each was to prove as adept at guitar, keyboard and drums as each other. The whole visual aspect of the gig was thoroughly entertaining and clearly Cary and Michael were having a great time and even when ‘calamity’ befell the bass drum and the foot mechanism fell apart they took it in their stride and played on regardless. At one point Cary regaled us with a ‘drummer’ joke whilst the roadies attended to the problem!
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| Michael Trent |
On a couple of occasions the duo seemed a bit concerned that we, the audience, were not enjoying the show, I guess that they are not used to the reserved, constrained west coast ‘Presbyterianism’ that confronted them, however, by the end of the show they were well aware of just how much we all enjoyed the gig. Had they played out the usual ‘encore charade’ and had we been seated, there is no doubt that we would have given them a standing ovation and pulled at least two ‘encores’ out of the fabulous Shovels and Rope. I, for one, had a wonderful night, haste ye back!
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