Something Like Sound

I have often expressed my appreciation for music-session-blog Daytrotter. They’ve done what I could only imagine doing: recording the best up-and-coming artists from a wide swath of the modern independent music using old-fashioned full-band recording techniques.

Yesterday’s session features 6 songs (available for free download, just click on the photo above) from former Hot Water Music singer Chuck Ragan. Earlier this summer we had the chance to see Chuck open for Lucero at the Bluebird, and as I remember Chuck gave one of the most intense folk performances I’ve ever seen.

I thought I’d also take the time to share some of my other favorite Daytrotter sessions here too. Click on the images to go the respective sessions.

We sat down with Brian and John from Memphis-based rock band Lucero to talk about everything from their connections with Denver to their new album (to be released some time later this year). Sorry about the background noise, Chuck Ragan was soundchecking during the first part of the interview.

“Denver was our first home away from home” explained Lucero guitarist Brian Venable in our interview before the band took the stage at the Bluebird on a gorgeous Colorado Friday night. From the start, I could tell this was going to be an interesting night. First of all, we weren’t the only press/bloggers there (also folks from AmericanIndie.net, Colorado Tapers, Suburban Home Records, and the Westword Street Team, to name a few).The interesting thing about Lucero is that they’re never made it big, yet they play shows to sold out crowds of screaming fans just like any band you’d hear on mainstream radio. Well, it was one of those nights, a roudy, ramblin’ Memphis rock show made specially for the homegrown Denver fans.

Up first was Chuck Ragan, singer for punk outlet Hot Water Music. Ragan’s raspy vocals and intense demeanor got the crowd warmed up as Lucero’s Ben Nichols would occasionally wander on to the stage to sing along with Chuck. I think the best way to describe the set would be to call it a mix of oldschool Johnny Cash and the shear bad-ass-ery of Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. Ragan, along with various backups (including pedal steel, fiddle, and accordian), played through a handful of songs with dynamics changing from rousing, upbeat numbers to more contemplative slow songs.

As Lucero took the stage they didn’t immediately rip in to one of their more popular songs, but instead began slowly with a cut from their early days. “This was the third song I ever wrote for this band,” remarked Nichols. However, the slow start didn’t stop the crowd. Even after the first song, deafening applause and cheering erupted, allowing the band to segway into another song. The set really began to pick up when they played their cover version of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle,” and from there on out it was like a runaway train. I think they started playing sometime around 11 pm, and definitely did not finish until 12:30 am.

Throughout the night Lucero played songs from their newest, recently recorded, yet-to-be-released album (which is still technically untitled). However, they remained true to their fans and played some of their all time greats, including “Sixteen,” “That Much Further West,” and my personal favorites “Here At The Starlight” and “Slow Dancing.” During the evening, Jon Snodgrass, of Drag The River, showed up to support Lucero. Most notably, Snodgrass sang along toward the end of the set during “Tears Don’t Matter Much,” wherein he and Nichols argued about who was going to play guitar.

Well, this has been a rather long review, but then again, this was one of the longest shows I’ve been to (in recent memory). After over a decade on the road, Lucero still knows how to put on a world-class show. Check back within the coming days (hopefully not weeks), to watch our interview with John and Brian from Lucero.

Words by Tim Weilert, Photos by Bengsoon Chuah