Go See Hear in L.A.: June 14-20

The music this week starts in New Orleans and ends with Texas – but travels many other places in-between.

Dr. John, the night tripper, stops in at the Grammy Museum Monday night to talk his colorful musical career and play some tunes. He will be returning to LA to close out the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series on Sept. 2.

The Austin-based honky tonkers Horse Opera ride into the charming Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena on June 15.

Young singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs performs her eclectic but forthright tunes at the Hotel Café on June 17. She comes from the recent NYC anti-folk scene that spawned artists like Langhorne Slim and Regina Spektor.

Also, on the 17th, the Troubadour welcomes a strong lineup of atmospheric indie rock featuring Matt Pond PA and Nova Scotia-based Wintersleep, who have a new CD, New Inheritors. While I haven’t heard much from that one, I did really dig “Archaeologists” from their prior effort, Welcome To The Night Sky.

British songstress Gemma Ray has the first of two local shows at the Redwood Bar on June 18 and then returns with a gig at the Hotel Café on June 22. Her new disc, It’s A Shame About Gemma Ray offers an eccentric covers selection ranging from Gershwin to Sonic Youth.

Onetime LA resident Jim Lauderdale has become one of the revered artists in the Americana scene, known for his songwriting and his singing (last year he toured as Elvis Costello’s accompanist). A prolific musician (he’s average over a CD a year in the last decade), Lauderdale arrives at McCabe’s on 6/18 behind his latest effort Patchwork River.

After SoCal favorite Chris Gaffney died in 2008, his Hacienda Brothers co-leader Dave Gonzalez (ex-Paladins) soldiered on with the Stone River Boys, whose terrific debut Love On The Dial continues churning out country soul gems. They have a show on the 6/18 Weber’s Sports Bar in Reseda.

Saturday night the Redwood Bar hosts the weekend’s top bill. The one and only Billy Joe Shaver makes his one and only L.A. appearance. He is true outlaw country original. Also appearing is the talented up and comer Eilen Jewell. While drawing comparisons to Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, she has impressively developed her own take on retro-based music that is rooted in the blues as much as country.

The Stone River Boys - Live At The Mint 9/25/09

When the talented and much loved Chris Gaffney passed away last year, it was a loss for the Americana music world, and particularly for the Hacienda Brothers – the band he started with David Gonzalez. Gonzalez decided not to fill Gaffney’s void and continue the Hacienda. Instead he started the rather like-minded Stone River Boys, and picked Mike Barfield to be his new musical sidekick. On paper, Barfield seemed to be an inspired choice. In the late ‘90s, he led the neo-honky-tonk outfit, the Hollisters, and has also displayed an affinity for the twangy soul sound that the Hacienda Brothers did so well.
I caught up with the Stone River Boys when they road into L.A. on Sept. 24 for a show at the Mint. Their set started out tackling their two main musical pursuits: the Hacienda’s western soul number “Midnight Dream” followed by old Hollisters’ honky tonkin’ favorite “East Texas Pines.” Gonzalez dedicated “Walkin’ On My Dreams” to Gaffney’s widow, who was in the house.
At first Barfield seemed to be hanging back a little, looking a bit uncertain of his role. But he soon loosened up, showing off (for lack of a better word) his swivel-hip, maraca-shaking dance moves on tunes like the “She’s A Yum Yum” and “The Struggle.” He proved that Gonzalez’s selection of him to be a good one. His “life of the party” persona balanced nicely with Gonzalez’s gritty guitar work as well as Hacienda Brother holdover David Berzansky’s terrific steel guitar playing.
While the Stone River Boys are a relatively young band in terms of time together, they are old souls who know how to play their brand of rockin’ soulful country music with skill and vitality. Their set let me looking forward to seeing a CD come out from them.