Neko Case / Fastball / Whiskeytown

Later broadcast on Chicago's WXRT Radio, 93.1 FM.

A Visit to Whiskeytown

March 25, 1998

First Appeared in The Music Box, April 1998, Volume 5, #4

Written by John Metzger

On March 25, an outstanding three-band bill, featuring Neko Case, Fastball, and Whiskeytown, played Chicago's Metro. Both Case and Whiskeytown hail from North Carolina, which seems to be the latest industry hotbed for young talent. (Ben Folds Five and Robbie Fulks also come from the region).

Case opened the show with a 30-minute set, featuring her strong vocals and an excellent backing band. The group's songs are heavily infused with country-rock, bluegrass, gospel, and rockabilly. Their set touched upon the sounds of Credence Clearwater Revival, The Ventures, and The Byrds.

Fastball, promoting their latest release All the Pain Money Can Buy, hails from Austin, Texas. Led by drummer Joey Shuffield, they pushed their 45-minute set to the limit with an incredible amount of intensity. The way that Shuffield locked into a groove with bassist Tony Scalzo on many of the songs reminded me of The Who's Live at Leeds. The band also touched upon the sounds of The Kinks and Midnight Oil, but the prevailing theme that wove through their music was that of Elvis Costello's early works. It was an energetic and fun performance that set the stage perfectly for Whiskeytown.

Whiskeytown is a band that has been struggling with line-up changes since its inception. They're currently touring with yet another line-up that may be their best to date. David Ryan Adams remains responsible for vocals and guitar, and Caitlin Cary continues her violin and backing vocal duties. But that's all that remains from the band who recorded their latest disc Stranger's Almanac.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's clearly Adams and Cary's band, and the band has certainly not lost any momentum with all the turbulence. If anything, they are gaining speed and seem to have ground out some of the wrinkles in their more up-tempo songs.

The best of these were a pair of outstanding new songs (Don't Wanna Know and Today) and the set closing pairing of a revamped Dancing with the Women at the Bar and Yesterday's News, which transcended the album version's Jayhawks/Wilco sound. As haunting and spacious as the recorded version of Dancing with the Women at the Bar is, the live version was densely packed with a high octane blend of heavy guitar. As it ventured into territory that was undeniably Neil Young, Adams and rhythm guitarist Ed Crawford drove home the point as they huddled together, much like Young and Frank Sampedro do when they embark on their heady jams.

However, the band is at its strongest as they tackle their more country-influenced songs. It's on these songs that Cary's violin pushes notes effortlessly around the melodies created by the other musicians on stage. Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart was a Wilco-like romp through a country bourbon bar. Houses on the Hill switched gears to a Son Volt/Gram Parson's country melody, sung perfectly by Adams and creating a pacific daydream.

After an hour-long set, Adams and keyboardist Mike Bailey returned and gently delivered a sparse, lonely Avenues. After the Crazy Horse-like sound and energy that had closed the set, Avenues seemed even more barren. Adams played the role of Neil Young perfectly. The rest of the band returned and delivered a superb Inn Town, my favorite off their latest disc.

Overall, it was a fantastic night of country-influenced music. The evening progressed quite naturally from one set to the next, with each band lifting the talent to the next level. Each of these bands shows a lot of promise and will certainly become more popular in the years to come. For those of you in the Chicago area, Whiskeytown's set was recorded for a future broadcast of WXRT's weekly Sunday Night Concert series.