Slims Downtown, Raleigh
Wednesday March 6, 2013
The small clubs in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill are grand benefactors of a yearly occurrence as the underground unknowns from the East filter down the 95 corridor to bang a right on 20 and drive for days to be seen and heard at SXSW. The Triangle makes for a nice gas money stop. Deertick once played a show to three people at Nightlight, went to Austin and became famous, then a few days later played to over 1000 at Cat's Cradle on the way back home to Providence. Wednesday night, Slims Downtown began to tell the story again, this fable starring the Fort Collins, CO based roots rock band Arliss Nancy.
But wait, their is a lot of prairie to cross between the Rockies of Colorado and the beaches of the East so that they could be part of the great migration of Northeastern bands. They find themselves sharing the same stretch of asphalt by virtue of their ethic. Arliss Nancy is given to the road. Two days before they lit up the stage at Slims they were finishing up a European tour. One day before, they were racing from JFK to a gig in Manhattan. And the morning of the show, they were on the road at 6:30 A.M trudging to Raleigh with one hand on the wheel and one eye on the road. Spruced up with a splash of pbr, their amps crackled to life and they recall why they do it. These guys live for the stage. The excitement of their show is derived in whole from their exuberance for performing.
The music is part of the next generation of outlaw country, raised by the original rambling troubadours who took refuge from the elements of society to properly reflect on the virtues of being a lone wolf from under the brilliant night sky of the Rocky Mountains. Being the sons of the movement, their angst is genuine and their guitars are sharper. Front man Cory Call rumbles through only the most meaningful parts of the stories and a swell of keys and rock and roll tells the rest. A thick layer of electric guitar flowing from Jason Larson offers confidence that the stories are as true as they are heavy hearted.
Alas, it may not be a total coincidence that Arliss Nancy found themselves on our local stage days after jet lagging from Europe and days before walking tall in Austin. They are signed to Durham, NC label Death To False Hopes Records and their oldest friend and biggest fan is the label's head, Scotty sandwich..a gem of a production manager, promoter, and talent developer.
Arliss Nancy is probably somewhere west of Alabama right now, driving blindly toward the light. Do what they did Wednesday night in Raleigh and I'll wager Austin welcomes them with open arms, but don't stay too long, We'll be waiting intently for their return. --Carrboro Ninja
Posts
