I joined some friends at Gabe’s for a show I didn’t really know much about and I learned to always trust these particular friends’ taste in music. This was a great show (as so many of them are). Name Crisis is called such because they haven’t yet picked a name, but they have certainly solidified their sound. Drums, strings and voices are all they needed to charm the audience. My general opinion is that adding a stand up base and a fiddle of some sort is part of the formula for really good folky bluegrass. They were melodic, yet strong. My only complaint was that the back up singers looked disinterested. C’mon, folks, get behind what you are doing and have fun with it! Overall, they were good and I wish I new what their ‘real name’ is going to be so I can follow up with the evolution of these musicians.
Name Crisis shared a member or two with the headliners, Coyote Grace. This was the band I had been dragged there to see and, as I said, I was grateful for the suggestion. They have the most adorable lady-lead singer on stand-up base, perfectly complimented by guitar and mandolin players, and the occassional drummer. They leaned a little more on the bluegrassy side of things, but who doesn’t love to get worked up by some great bluegrass? There was only a small crowd but everyone there was totally into it, myself included.
The night concluded with local favorite, Sam Knutson. He has a sweet voice that is perfectly paired with his country-blues melodies and clever lyrics. Just a man and his guitar, never disappointing, always makes me smile and sway.
