Buffalo Gospel- District 14 Brewery, 5/27/16

photo by Will Piper

This past Friday,  music fans who attended the sold out show at Bayview's quaintly intimate District 14 Brewery were treated to outstanding Americana music at its best to kick off their Memorial Day weekend.  Buffalo Gospel, a band I once declared "Milwaukee's best kept secret," continues to gain new fans and momentum.  Their fan base has certainly grown as they take a hiatus from summer touring to enter the studio to record their much anticipated second full-length record, a follow up to 2013's We Can Be Horses.  The band has undergone a lot of growth and transformation in the past eighteen months, as they now regularly perform as a quintet with Field Report guru Christopher Porterfield joining them on guitar.

As the band is becoming more accustomed to the tighter quintet arrangement, vocalist Ryan Necci is simultaneously  cutting loose and allowing his fantastic vocal range to soar.  Necci's lyrics have always been great but his vocals recently have reached a new level of depth and soulfulness.  I had the great pleasure of attending the "How to Write a Popular Song" show curated by Christopher Porterfield this past winter as part of the final days of the Alverno Presents series.  While that entire performance was outstanding, a certain number, "Hello Central, Give Me Heaven," gave me serious chills with the intense vocal range Necci displayed.

Moving forward to last Friday's performance, the highlights of the show featured Necci cranking on the vocals alongside the steady beats of Nick Lang on the drums.  Lang's skills are noteworthy as the band has relied increasingly on tight rhythm arrangements to help drive their sound.

The show highlight from last Friday was a newer track, "High Time To Hang Fire," which featured Necci's vocals at their finest.  This new track is one of the ones that will soon be featured on Buffalo Gospel's second full-length release.  The great news to report from the show is that I still get goosebumps from listening to Necci sing, whether it is paying homage to the work of Charles K. Harris at the Alverno show or exploring original compositions.  I have a feeling that Buffalo Gospel will only get tighter and hone in on their soulful Americana sound when we see them play again this fall.

photo by Nathan Meilke

Setlist:
Set I:
Homeless
Hill Outside My Home
Hard Labor Side of Gettin On
Waiting For the Lights to Go Out
Letters to Georgia
She Ain't Gonna Hold
Old I Do of Mine
Lonestar
When Lonesome Comes Calling
Can't Afford to Die

Set II:
The Western
Song of the Ox
Mule
Hoarse as a Crow
18 Wheeler
High Time to Hang Fire
On the First Bell
If I Was the Last Man
Son of a Gun

Elephant Revival, Dead Horses & Trapper Schoepp- Turner Hall Ballroom, 5/11/16

The boundaries of Americana music were pushed in a myriad of different directions Wednesday night at the three-quarters-full Turner Hall Ballroom as Elephant Revival, Dead Horses and Trapper Schoepp joined forces for a terrific mid-week triple bill.

photo by Stephen Bloch

Proudly hailing from Nederland, Colorado, Elephant Revival is an eclectic band of uber-talented musical gypsies joined together to create some of the more nuanced-heavy music I've experienced in quite some time.  The quintet seamlessly alternated instruments during their engaging headlining set which featured a heavy amount of tracks off the band's excellent release Petals, which came out last month, along with a solid amount of songs from earlier records.  Instruments used in this performance included everything from guitar, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel, fiddle, washboard, cello, horns, and even a musical saw (something I had never seen played before).  Elephant Revival excel in creating a sonic aesthetic with layered precise arrangements.  Their ethereal sound and harmonies captivated the audience.  No wonder Elephant Revival has become a large drawing band out west, and is playing Red Rocks this summer.  Despite limited exposure in Milwaukee, they drew a captivated crowd of fans, myself included, who would eagerly see them again.

photo by Stephen Bloch

Dead Horses, the co-headliner of the evening, is an Oshkosh-based quartet fronted by the lush soulful vocals of singer-songwriter, Sarah Vos.  Dead Horses have a powerful sound, which is punctuated by the seamless interplay between Vos, guitarist Peter Raboin, and upright bassist Daniel Wolff.  Their set ranged from more intimate acoustic arrangements to outright full-on  jams.  Dead Horses excelled in the more free-forming moments of the evening, and pull off a tight Grateful Deadish vibe when the band gets deep into its grooves.   In an ambitious move, Dead Horses covered Radiohead's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" from their In Rainbows record, which was a highlight of the evening.  Dead Horses performed a great deal of their set list with tunes from their forthcoming new release, which will be a must have for my 2016 music collection once it comes out.

photo by Stephen Bloch

Opening the evening was Milwaukee native Trapper Schoepp, who like Dead Horses and Elephant Revival has an excellent collection of new songs in his repertoire with his latest, Rangers and Valentines dropped last month.  Schoepp, who was joined by his brother Travis on stage, played an acoustic set which focused on his blend of Americana and traditional rock 'n roll vibes.  New tracks like "Ballad of Olof Johnson" and "For Jonny" came across warmly and make me want to be sure to check out Trapper Schoepp with his full band soon.

photo by Will Piper