July 31st, 2010. The Roots Roadhouse Music festival-- a three staged event taking place at the echoplex/echo in Echo Park, Los Angeles, where one could migrate in between the upper and lower stages of the Echoplex/Echo, and an outdoor stage surrounded by bbq's and vintage clothing tables. I have never seen so many cowboy boots, and so many well... can i say it? skinny-jean hipsters. And I say that with love, because I am tickled by the pun of it all. Because let's face it. It's like the perfect metaphor: Skinny jeans literally fit into boots rather nicely right? And so does the mixture of mixing of hipsters with cowboys/girls. It works! I didn't really have many expectations. I didn't realize that roots music had such a following on the East side. I had always assumed that the East side of LA was the pride host of a variety of musical genres in the "rock/indie/emo/pop/other-words-I-don't-know" genres, leaving the West side more known for the acoustic rock/Americana style tunes. But it's nice to be pleasantly proven wrong with these generalizations. Yeehaw!
I came to hang with the wonderfully talented Charlene--violinist/fiddle player in several bands, including one of this festival's special guests, Leslie Stevens and the Badgers. And although I got to see her perform, i didn't realize that I would be a part of such a fun age-less festival, featuring new roots players to those featured for being around a long time. The vibe was nothing but a mellow, warm, casual celebration of lots of wonderful artists. There were cowboy boots stomping along with the tightly bound angles of skinny-jeans hipsters, enough space to casually march right up to the front of any stage to snap a photo, and a full enough audience to make you (and the performers) feel like you were a part of something wonderful. Good stuff.
Leslie and the Badgers was wonderful. Leslie's lyrics exemplify roots music: they tell a story with the simplicity and spacing of old-time Americana, but with smart metaphors and catchy repetition, as if to speak honestly with the audience and not to them. Her voice has a soft trill to it, bending around emotional parts of the song just enough to add extra emotion, and not to overly stylize them. Watch out for her LA song. It almost made me cry. What I liked most about her sound was how it worked with the full band--Charlene's violin skills are incredible, and she shines whether she is standing in the back of the stage or weaving her way up to the front of the stage for satisfying moments of soloing. Charlene has a calm about her when she plays that just makes the audience know ahead of time that her work will be wonderful. And it is. watch out for those moments when she sings harmonies with Leslie and plays at the same time. Good stuff. Another thing I enjoyed about this band was the in between "banter" classic for any band. Sometimes those moments are equally as important as the music itself, because it is the audience's moment to feel out how the band works, and the personalities behind the story. Leslie and her bassist are hilarious when they chatted together in between songs. Even when one of the guitar amps went out for a second, Leslie's warm talking voice and funny pre-song explanations with her bassist were exactly what we needed, and we all forgot the little technical issue had happened. Kudos to Leslie and the Badgers. Lead guitar and slide--yes! So good. Drums. Yes. You all were wonderful!
Another noteworthy performer was T Model Ford, a blues master from Forest Mississippi. Earlier in the night I had noticed him shuffle in with his cane and sit down by the merch table. I noticed because it took him a while to walk in, and because he had this mona lisa-like "almost"smile on his face... borderline flirty. I brushed it off quickly, thinking "no no, he's a pretty old guy. That is not a flirty smile" chiding myself for being so presumptuous. I found out later that his known nickname was "the ladies man" and I laughed silently, reverting back to my first impression, almost seeing all of the stories of his past right there in that permanent flirty smile. When he walked slowly past me I could tell he was a blues musician. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was what he was wearing--the unassuming hoodie and worn out slacks combined with shiny loafers and a fedora with a skull and bones on it. Laid back combined with sharpness. Later, when I found out that he was ninety years old, and was the headliner of the upstairs stage, I wasn't surprised. And i immediately pushed up to the front to get myself a front-row spot.
It took him a long time to get onto the stage, and an even longer time to try and tune his electric guitar. Eventually he handed it over to one of the guitarists to tune with his electronic tuner. But once he started playing it was such a sight to see. His fingers moved slow (something he hilariously lamented in his own "banter" moments on stage). But watching his fingers move was beautiful--each finger moved on their own, knowing their path from years of playing blues. Pure finger choreography. It reminded me of the times that I have seen older Brazilian samba dancers get up out of their chairs just enough for a brief dance, moving slowly but with uttmost authenticity, proving that a genre of performance is about the history and lived experience in that genre, and not simply about tricky moves. T model Ford. He groaned some blues lyrics about a girl (I think... i had a hard time understanding) and played slow 12-bar rhythms with squinted eyes, taking us back to Forest, Mississippi. Sure, I had a hard time understanding him, and I believe all his slow songs were in the key of E or A, but even if he was playing the same song over and over again, I still would have stayed. He teaches us that simplicity, heart, and a smile that flirts with life, are the timeless elements of performance.
Other wonderful performers in the mix were Chatham County Line (who end all their "one mic" style songs smack in the middle of the audience floor with a hootin'hollarin' encore), and Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men, who alternates talk-sing style songs that are "autobiographical but not necessarily true" with "guitar shredding" to say the least. And he wears a crisp cowboy hat with red handkerchief. Cheesy? Perhaps. Absolutely necessary? Yes.
Next year. Go.
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