Much too long ago, one of my favorite local bars, Solly's Tavern, hosted Charlie Patton's War for a little show in their upstairs bar. It was a Tuesday evening and I had found out about that show the day of, via twitter. I have tons and tons of bands come across my radar on twitter and it's almost impossible to check them all out. There was something about this band's tweet, the show being at a neighborhood bar of mine and their band name that struck me. I decided, at the very least, to listen to a song or two off of their bandcamp site.
While blues isn't my normal forte, I was almost immediately jamming to their music while cranking out my projects at work. I had nothing on my schedule for the evening, no need to work late that night and I wanted to see this band play. I hit up my friends on our facebook thread - "anyone want to check out this awesome blues band at Solly's tonight?" My friend Erin happily obliged.
We loved this band and had a great evening. I don't think you can go wrong with a $3 cover, blues music, PBRs and whiskey sours. Before the show, we had a brief conversation with their drummer and lead singer, Aaron Frazer and one of his friends who had come out to see them play. Erin and I learned that the band was from Bloomington, Indiana, still in college and their main goal was to get their name out there. I told them that I saw Solly's retweet the band earlier in the day and that I decided to come out after listening to their album on bandcamp. I think Aaron was excited that people, other than friends and family, had decided to attend. Erin mentioned this blog, I assured them it was small and silly, but also said I'd talk about the show. Any press is good press, right?
It was a weeknight, therefore, we stayed for only the first of two, hour-long sets. During this set, the band covered a wide variety of their debut album. The highlights Git Gone, Fatties, Say Ya Mine and Friscoe Ride were all played and the energy in the room was high throughout all of them. Solly's was loud and it was deceptively easy to get lost in the music. Is this what blues is all about? I think so.
In addition to their own songs, they played an exceptional cover of Alabama Shakes' Hold On. I was floored. With Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes essentially set a precedent for what modern day blues-style music should live up to. As much as I love the original version of Hold On, Charlie Patton's War did a fantastic job delivering a piece that exceeded that precedent. The same thought can apply to their cover of J.D. McPherson's North Side Gal, another personal highlight of mine that evening.
The ability for modern artists to find inspiration in and honor retro music is a trend I don't want to end any time soon. Charlie Patton's War joins the likes of Alabama Shakes, J.D. McPherson, Pickwick, Fitz & the Tantrums, Elin Ruth, Radiation City and others in proving that there's room to improve even in classic rock and pop.
Listen to Charlie Patton's War on bandcamp or Spotify. I especially dig this "basement demo version" of Say Ya Mine:
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