Erika Wennerstrom solo

Posted on by Jeffrey Barrett

On Wednesday we got the chance to see Erika Wennerstrom perform outside the boundaries of Heartless Bastards, in which she had songwriting duties, guitar, and the lead vocals for the last 15 years.  HB put out five albums on multiple labels. The first back in 2005 had a sound that was mostly “garage” but punctuated by Erika’s distinct vocal style.  The early material didn’t really highlight the range and control that she has, but stands on its own merit, and is generally pretty solid.

The two most recent HB albums were definitely a transition to a more polished and free-flowing musical style, and the song writing is vastly improved, as would be expected as a band develops. Heartless Bastards last played in Vancouver at the Vogue on tour supporting the 2015 release Restless Ones, and they sounded superb.  Jesse Ebaugh’s bass playing was lock step with the drum, and the kick drum administered chest compressions, in case anyone needed CPR. 

Following the release of Restless Ones Erika had written some songs that apparently were not suited to the band, and she embarked on a mission to find a new musical path.  The result was ‘Sweet Unknown’, released in March of 2018, and brought to life the idea from a previous HB song – the journey is the destination.

The nine songs on Sweet Unknown are highly personal and transparent.  It’s rare to hear an artist being so completely honest and personal, but she wears her heart on her sleeve in this project like never before.  So a new band was assembled and they are currently on the road in support of bluegrass-ish trioThe Devil Makes Three, who have a long history and a very loyal following.  Erika opened the show on Wednesday and played 8 of the 9 songs on Sweet Unknown (adding in one HB tune for good measure).  She’s a master at filling up the room with her awesome vocal range [do not try and sing along at home], and has the ability to control the power across her whole range, like few other vocalists.   The accompanying slide guitar and harmony vocals really layered the sound and the rhythm section kept it all together.

From the opening notes of Twisted Highway right through to her packing up her own gear (in heels) her authenticity poured out – after a one hour performance you walk away feeling like you have a new best friend.  I get the feeling that this is not an experiment and that possibly Heartless Bastards will cease to exist in their previous state.  But based on the performance from last last night it seems that whatever comes in its place will be bigger and better than HB ever would be.

Steve Earle & the Dukes show

Posted on by Jeffrey Barrett

STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES – COMMODORE BALLROOM, Saturday September 29, 2018

Rainy Saturday night in downtown Vancouver, but Granville Street was hoppin’, and the line up to get first crack at the primo seats and standing-room in the Commodore was bigger than most nights – to see Steve Earle on the Copperhead Road 30th Anniversary tour, on the first of 2 nights in town.  Steve got a fantastic crowd, particularly given that Jeff Tweedy was playing a block away at the Vogue, and I can’t remember seeing such a crush at the stage during an opening act [The Mastersons, who both feature in the Dukes nowadays as well].

The Copperhead Road Anniversary tour was just as billed – a chance to hear the whole album, in sequence, interspersed with lots of cussin’ and cursin’, and few personal insults from Steve to some asshole who kept yelling over him during the song introductions.  I believe the first salvo was “I’ve got the fuckin’ mic, buddy”.

The current Dukes lineup features Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle, long-time Duke Kelly Looney on bass, Brad Pemberton on drums, and Chris Masterson doing the heavy lifting on guitar.  The band had a tight sound and the mix was decent, if a bit dull on the low end.

The tunes came off well and Steve’s introductions definitely give some added context to each song, though he did forgo the usual “lecture” that apparently comes with the introduction to Devil’s Right Hand, deeming it unnecessary in the Great White North.  Once You Love came with a wonderful story of Steve and Larry Crane (he Hurts So Good) writing the song, which somehow turned into a trip to a car dealer to purchase a brand new [in 1987] Buick Grand National.

When they got to Johnny Come Lately Steve provided the background to the original album cut, recorded in London with The Pogues, and the arrangement had Ricky Ray pick up an accordion, Kelly on upright bass, and Steve switched to a bouzouki.

In spite of the instrumentation, it just didn’t capture the feel of that Pogues track, but still a highlight – reminded me that I have a 5 foot high poster from the London shows that he played when the song was released [and a copy of the 1988 UK 12″ Single, which also includes a haunting live version of Bruce Springsteen’s  Nebraska].  Apparently I’m not allowed to have that poster on permanent display, but I’ve captured it here for posterity [pun intended].

The set list went on from the 10 Copperhead Road songs into the first 3 cuts from the most recent release So You Wannabe An Outlaw, also in sequence, which made me wonder if he was going to play that whole album as well.  But he followed the 3 newer tunes with some fantastic versions of the old classics.  On the 30th Anniversary tour you have a pretty good idea of the crowd demographic.  So we got Someday, Guitar Town, I Ain’t Ever Satisfied, and definitely a highlight The Week of Living Dangerously.  For Galway Girl they returned to the ‘Pogues’ instrumentation, and the crowd was singing along -aye I aye I aye.

They finished the set with a blistering version of the 60’s standard Hey Joe which gave Chris Masterson the chance to unleash his inner Jimi, and he brought the house down.

One encore only, which started with a solo rant, and some fine finger-picking,  which really brought back the original Copperhead Road memories.  Steve played a solo tour of those songs, just a man and his guitar [or mandolin as the case may be].  Hubba I caught the act at Stages in Kingston, February 24th, 1988.  I have a recording of the whole show, made on an open mic I brought in – early but unsuccessful days as a bootlegger.  For some reason that hasn’t been digitized into my collection yet – but it will be.

We also got a bit of insight to the upcoming albums: 16 Guy Clark songs next spring [because “I don’t wanna meet that motherfucker on the other side, having done the Townes record, but not his songs”], and after that, a 2020 release of original songs which no doubt will provide all the commentary you need on the state of the political world.

2nd show Sunday September 30th, 2018.  Doors open at 7.