ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION
MON MAY 18 | 7:30 PM | JOHNNY MERCER THEATRE
There’s no denying the bluegrass resurgence, and not just in Take Five over the last several months. For the second year in a row, Billy Strings has brought arena-scale bluegrass to Savannah, including two-night stands at Enmarket Arena. While his live spectacle is pure combustion of traditional bluegrass roots peppered with speed and jam band/Dead culture energy, Alison Krauss is the opposite. Her brand is just as technically elite, but far more restrained, harmonious, and emotional.
The arrangements are immaculate, but she and the boys in Union Station can set a controlled burn as hot as anyone else. Whether you’re a devotee of the genre or not, any music fan has to appreciate the increase in visibility after too many years (decades?) of synthetic music made by manufactured pop stars using artificial voice effects to elicit a shallow emotional response. Bluegrass eschews every last bit of that, leaving no room to hide a lack of talent.
Following an extended hiatus after 2011's Paper Airplane, the band's new record, Arcadia, sounds like it could have been released on a normal schedule.. The main change from 2011 is vocalist Russell Moore replacing Dan Tyminski. Given Krauss’ delicate lead vocals, the main male counterpart is rather important.
Moore, a multiple IBMA award winner for his vocals, is not a downgrade by any stretch. An important anchor that remains from the previous era is Dobro overlord Jerry Douglas, who is as good as it gets.
Tons of bluegrass bands are forming, touring and recording recently, many aiming to expand the style and grow the audience. That’s admirable, and Savannah has seen many come through town as well as having its own mighty scene.
But there’s something comforting about a traditional band that adds doses of country, Americana, and gospel back in action. Krauss’ 12 million records sold and 27 Grammy Awards suggest that comfort reaches a helluva lot of people.
HALL OF THE ELDERS + ROYAL HEARTS + SLERRRP + CORALINES COLLAPSE + ORIENA
SUN MAY 24 | 6 PM | COASTAL EMPIRE BEER CO.
Sadly, that gargantuan hole in your life you’ve been trying to fill with righteous causes, canned weed juice, or a heart-healthy lifestyle free of additives won’t be filled anytime soon. That is, unless, you discover the life-affirming wonders of crabcore.
Light years beyond the shrieking confines of metalcore, crabcore combines the heavy sounds, catchy choruses, and drop C guitar breakdowns with a stage spectacle that can, in fact, be part of a heart-healthy lifestyle. Spawned in 2007 and largely underground since, it requires a low, squatting stance with knees bent at extreme angles.
With full-band choreography that would make NSYNC blush and spontaneously combust, the stance originated with the band Blessthefall and was popularized by Attack Attack! Until it’s mandated by single-payer healthcare, Hall of the Elders is on a mission to spread the contortions visually while pounding your helpless eardrums into hamburger.
Their metalcore sound and crabcore experience include synths and electronics you don’t often hear in the genre. When the entirety hits you, you’ll thank Kublai Kanine Booking & Promotion for finally giving meaning to your life.
Supporting the crustaceous shindig are a trio of Florida crushers.
Royal Hearts specialize in Sunshine State metalcore, Coralines Collapse deliver post-hardcore beatings, and Oriena will just run you the F over like the offspring of fellow Yulee product Derrick Henry and Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher. Savannah’s style warping Slerrrp add a bit of Hostess City elan.
STUD FORD
SAT MAY 23 | 3–6 PM | OVER YONDER
One half of the Delta blues guitar-and-drum duo that absolutely killed it on a Wednesday night at Over Yonder last July, Stud Ford returns without Will Coppage. The grandson of legendary bluesman T-Model Ford, Stud started playing drums with his grandpa when he was six years old. The duo played what they call indie blues.
The solo act is more traditional Delta blues, but you can expect an unconstrained set featuring hill country stomp, electric blues, and echoes of the Delta epicenter of Clarksdale, MS, where he learned it. He plays drums, but also pulls a Dave Grohl and steps up front with a guitar. Given his family line, stepping up front with a guitar is not a costume change. It is part of the inheritance.
PHANTOM DAN + MANAROVS + SPEAKSLOW
SAT MAY 23 | 9 PM | THE WORMHOLE
Pop punk endures and doesn’t need the ‘90s retro obsession so popular right now to power it. It’s more of an early ‘00s thing, but whatever. The style that Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and the Vans Warped Tour made a mainstream phenomenon lives in just about every college town in the country.
Athens is no exception, and Phantom Dan is a scene leader. He’s got the proper emo vibes and observational humor to carry interesting lyrical content on a quilt of earworm hooks and soaring choruses. The rock is more melodious pop punk than driving hardcore, with a dab of nu metal here and hip-hop delivery there.
For material created in the current decade that could pass for stuff that came out in the earliest years of the millennium, don’t mistake it as derivative. The lineage of pop punk is older than most of the people playing it today. The seminal period started with bands like Buzzcocks, The Dickies and Descendents in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. The commercial dam broke with Green Day in the early ‘90s and the approximately 4,923 bands that got signed to cash in on the craze.
Phantom Dan may evoke the third wave due to the emo angle, but he owes as much to the first wave as The Struts and Greta Van Fleet owe to early David Bowie and Led Zeppelin.
DAVID NAIL
FRI MAY 22 | 8 PM | VICTORY NORTH
The music industry can try a man’s soul the way unrequited love can tear it apart. Missouri native David Nail has his own story about making it through the country music industry meatgrinder. His 2002 single Memphis charted modestly, but the album it was attached to was never released.
Reasons vary, but the preview single peaking at 52 and label “upheaval” (aka, backers were fired) appear to be the main culprits. He walked away from music for a few years, returned, and was redeemed when MCA released his debut I’m About to Come Alive in 2009.
His strong voice, adult-leaning country style, and vibrant songwriting put him on the map. The debut resulted in three top 20 hits, including Red Light making it to No. 7. Major success followed when the sophomore LP The Sound of a Million Dreams hit No. 8 on the country album chart and Let It Rain topped the singles chart. Another No. 1 single, Whatever She’s Got, followed two years later, establishing him as a bona fide star.
His songs have a distinct level of maturity and craft that separates them from typical modern country. This may partly be in his DNA, since his father was a band director. He cites Elton John and Glen Campbell as influences, and those surely help. But his voice stands out and his songs showcase it well.
By Frank Ricci