Last Train Home Review

My wife and I saw a stripped down (instrument wise not clothes wise) version of Last Train Home at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis last night. They gave a typically solid 2 set performance with several highlights. The band lineup consisted of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet, bass and drums. Absent from previous times were the steel guitar and keyboard/accordinist Jen Gunderson. Still the band provided plenty of sound to fill the club. Eric Brace leads the band singing and playing acoustic guitar as well as writing most of the original material. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, spending most of his break time greeting and chatting with folks in the audience. You get the feeling that he knows most of them personally.
Back to the music. The band played solidly throughout. Highlights for me included a song called "Crazy Mama" that included a very jazzy trumpet solo from Kevin Cordt which morphed into a very bluesy guitar solo by Scott Wiedemeier. I admire bands who do interesting covers and LTH obliged. They did Bob Dylan's "Tonight I'll be Staying Here With You", Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", Harry Nillson's "Everybody's Talking" (which I learned was written by someone else) and a song by country storyteller Tom T Hall. Another highlight for me was the medley of Louisiana and Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" which included another blistering guitar solo by Wiedemeier. Also worth mentioning is drummer Martin Linds' very solid backing vocals. I guess having a drummer that can sing backup is like having a good fielding second baseman who is also capable of hitting 20 home runs. Twice the value for the price.
LTH is a very solid band musically. Eric Brace is a very personable front man as well as a good singer and songwriter. The band works very well together. Kevin Cordt's trumpet adds another dimension to the folkish sound and when given the opportunity to stretch, the players can produce some memorable solos. My only complaint is that they missed some of favorites, like "Matchbox Message" and Paul Kelly's "To Her Door". But a nice night out for me and the missus.
There's a link to LTH's website to the right.

Sunday Song of the Day

Last Good Kiss by Last Train Home

This is the new CD from the band. They appear a lot in the DC area and put on a good show. Go see them if you can. Listen to this song and if you like it, buy the album. The band's link is on the left. The album is pretty good. Slower and jazzier than their earlier efforts. Definitely don't pigeonhole them with a label like "alt-country". I occasionally use labels like this but hate to. Sometimes a category is helpful, but I find that not that I'm a grown up, most of the time music is music. And a person should just listen to a song rather than try to categorize it.

Good news

Good news on my favorite blog subjects. First, Last Train Home has a new cd, which I have ordered. I will post a review once I have received it and listened to it. Since Eric Brace (leader of the band) has actually posted a comment on this blog, I'll make sure its a good review. It won't be difficult, I'm sure I'll like it. If you want to truly support the arts, click on the Last Train Home link and order the cd. Music is an incredibly tough business and there are so many talented people out there who deserve our support. So while its fine to buy that Taylor Hicks cd, how about also buying one from someone just as talented but not so famous? They're playing in Arlington this weekend at the Iota Club, a venue I have never been at. Unfortunately, I'm playing single dad while my wife is off to a quilting retreat, so I can't go. Unless, I attempt the all ages Sunday matinee. Hmmm, maybe.

Also, I received my ticket invoice from the Washington Wizards for next year, and once again, my season tickets for upper level, center court tickets will be just $15 a game. The face value on them is $48. I certainly would never buy season tickets at $48 a game and am not sure how many individual games I would buy at that price. Each year we fear that the other shoe is going to drop. So far, it hasn't. $15 is an incredible bargain. This is especially enhanced by the fact that the time has been very entertaining for 3 years now.
And yes, a season ticket is a lot of games, but my ticket partner and I keep about half of the games and sell the rest. At $15, its quite easy to sell them. So if you're the least bit interested in Wizards hoops, think about it. Get a group of friends to share 2 seats. The funny thing is, once you buy a full season plan, you're in the club. My friend and I both marvel at the fact that our ticket agents fawn over us like big spenders even though we're just spending $15 a game.

Sitting here, I just picked up my autistic son's palm pilot and attempted to play a game. I've no clue what to do. He has limited communication skills, yet somehow figures out how to play all of these computer games. Amazing.

Have a good holiday weekend!