house shows | Cause A Scene Music

Ok, I admit it, sometimes in the massive landscape that is the music world, I’m a little late to jump in the water. Every now and then I get distracted by the bright, shiny things way out in the horizon rather than the powerful waves right in front of me. Case in point: Saturday night’s house guests Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. I had heard of them long ago, even saw when Amazon named their single “Shoe Fits” the 7th best song of 2011 and their full-length one of the top 100 albums (#76 to be exact) of the same year, but still, nothing. Is that a boat way out there? An island? All of a sudden I’m turned upside down by the whitecaps tossing me to and fro, from track one to number twelve.

Once I finally waded back to my natural habitat on the shore, or Nashville in this case, and listened to their full-length, “Civilian Man” several months back, and I wasn’t able to shake it. And I have been all the better for it. The album (and from what I can tell from reviews of their live shows) is full of tight harmonies from piano man Ellsworth, lead guitarist Timon Lance and bassist Marshall Skinner, with drummer Joel Wren keeping everything in check from the backline. They were described by another blogger I briefly read as “quirky electronic-enforced indie pop” and as somewhat convoluted as that sounds, it actually makes pretty good sense of their sound. It’s a jangly, shimmery brand of indie pop with a small dose of folk thrown in to roughen up the edges just enough. The band cites Wilco, Paul Simon and Tom Petty as influences on their Facebook, and it’s easy to pick up some Beach Boys pop sensibilities throughout the album as well. At some points there are some casual resemblances to a more accessible Grizzly Bear (yeah, it didn’t make sense to me the first time either, but I promise it’s there!). Ultimately, to me, they come across as simply a helluva good time a la Dr. Dog, who in similar fashion, wear their influences on their sleeves while still are able to create a sound all their own.

If all of that doesn’t get you pumped to see them live at Cause A Scene HQ (aka my living room) this Saturday night, I don’t know what will. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the whole show turns into a small scale dance party, and if the band stays true to form, they may be doing a bit of that on their own on stage. The house show is an economical $7 at the door and will kick off at 7:30 with local favorites Isaac Hayden and David Jennings kicking the party off. We’ve had a lot of really, really fun shows this summer, but let’s just say the stage is set (pardon the pun) for our most show yet. If you’d like to come to the show, RSVP to larry.kloess@gmail.com and we’ll get you the rest of the details soon. Hope to see you all there, folks!

Brand new music video for “Bleeding Tongue” after the jump.

June
14 – Carbondale, Ill. @ The Hangar 9
16 – Brentwood, Tenn. @ Cause A Scene: House Concert Series
20 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Workplay
22 – Asheville, N.C. @ Emerald Lounge
23 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Barley’s Taproom
24 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Smith’s Olde Bar

July
14 – Columbus, Ohio @ Rumba Café
19 – Nashville, Tenn. @ The Basement
20 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Barley’s Taproom
21 – St. Louis, Mo. @ The Gramophone
22 – Bloomington, Ind. @ The Bishop
23 – Chicago, Ill. @ Schubas Tavern
24 – Lexington, Ky. @ Natasha’s Bistro

August
17 – Nashville, Tenn. @ High Watt

There are concerts that will forever be imprinted on my memory, that as I remember them, I feel like I am right back in the midst of the euphoria. Ben Harper at the Ryman in 2005: 3 sets, 33 songs and 4 hours of pure bliss. Driving through a snowstorm to see Iron & Wine at Denver’s Paramount Theatre in 2007. I thought I was going to die that night on those roads, but I would have died happy. Mumford & Sons bringing their big tent revival-esque show to Nashville’s War Memorial in 2010. Yes, I had beer spilled all over me that night. Yes, I was thrown up on. Yes, I even ended up in the ER that night from an injury suffered in an intramural football game earlier in the evening. YES, it was still quite possibly the greatest concert I have ever been to.

Then nights like the one this past fall happen, a night that will forever be cemented in my own unofficial “Shows Hall of Fame”, when one of my favorite bands (and one of the most talented I might add) Seryn graced the makeshift stage of my house’s living room floor and left each of those in attendance mesmerized and awestruck at the sheer power and weight of their live performance. Now for anyone who has seen the talented Denton, Texas, five-piece play at a proper venue can attest to, they play a brand of folk rock that sometimes can get cranked up to eleven (insert Spinal Tap jokes here, please). It is truly a sight to see. But even more impressive, on that late October night was the way in which each of the band’s members handled their art with such delicateness throughout an unplugged acoustic set. There is always a sense of bringing order out of the chaos with Seryn’s songs, at one moment launching listeners into a post-rock ether only to bring them back again to a soothing sereneness when the music drifts into the background and the only instruments left are the wondrous harmonies of the voices.

My comment that night to a crowd of a little over 70 that had gathered in the living room and spilled to all corners of the house was that it was like “Christmas, my birthday, and every other holiday thrown in together”, and in so many ways it felt like a grand celebration worthy of its own official holiday. It was both a culmination and a nascent beginning of thoughts and dreams that had been floating around for years as my love for music grew and evolved. Cause A Scene didn’t exist at that point, but the seeds that had been planted during years of musical discovery germinated rapidly from that point forward. There were moments during the course of the evening where I was nearly moved to tears, both through Seryn’s propulsive songs and the incredible intricacy of opener Tony Brown and the Lion’s Den (talk about being pleasantly surprised in a HUGE way!). That night, in a form true to Seryn’s standout “We Will All Be Changed”, we were forever changed through the awakened belief that music can not only entertain or inspire, but can transform each of us.

The entire evening was filmed and recorded by the fantastic Ryan Silver:

It was also photographed by my wonderfully talented roommate, Barrett Santi. You can see many more of the photos from the evening here.

Archives For house shows

House Show: Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes

We Will All Be Changed