#amber farris

[granadatheater-blog]

Track of the Day: Somebody's Darling - "Cold Hands." 

"Dallas roots country outfit Somebody’s Darlingis that bottle of whiskey, and their sophomore album, Jank City Shakedown, is the pour that has you asking the barkeep for more." - Pegasus News on Jank City Shakedown

[themusicenthusiast]

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 – Wild Child

In many ways, the show this night was totally different from any others I attend. For starters, I had been contacted a few weeks earlier by Melissa Cox, who runs Music Box Media, informing me of an Austin group, Wild Child, who would soon be playing Dallas and asked if I would do a review of the show and she could also set me up with an interview. I can honestly say, this is the first time anything like that has ever happened. The show was taking place at the City Tavern, a venue I’ve wanted to see many shows at, but have never gone to, mainly because parking in Downtown Dallas always seemed like it would be a pain in the ass… Fortunately, it wasn’t, and after the band finished sound checking we knocked the interview out (you can listen to it HERE) and then I waited patiently for the show to begin. I couldn’t find much info about the show as to what other bands were playing or anything like that, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Amber Farris walk into the upstairs area of the City Tavern, where the stage is located. She fronts the alt/country band, Somebody’s Darling, and while I’m far from being the biggest fan they have, I’ve really enjoyed the handful of shows I’ve seen. I assume she did some of the bands material to begin with, because once she mentioned that she “…Usually has a full band…” and another time said something like, “I’m trying to figure out how these songs go by myself.” In all, she did a 38 minute set, with some covers thrown in the back half of it. I did wonder how she would be without the band behind her, and in some ways I enjoyed it more. Her voice, which has an incredibly unique twang to it, was able to shine through even more so than usual, and she had the presence to pull it off as well, as she paced back and forth on the stage when she wasn’t singing. It was a great little way to get things going, and if you would like to see Somebody’s Darling they have some shows coming up. They’ll be doing a day show at SXSW in Austin on March 14th at Opal Divine’s, which is FREE. Then, on March 16th they will be up in Denton at Dan’s Silverleaf. Lastly, check out their self-titled record on iTunes. It didn’t take Amber long to tear down, since she just had to unplug a guitar, and just a few minutes after doing so the members of Wild Child stormed the stage as Carey McGraw worked his way back behind the drum kit. Evan Magers seated himself behind the keyboard on stage right, as multi-instrumentalist, Matthew Mares, and the groups bass took stage left, and of course the two vocalists, Alexander Beggins and Kelsey Wilson had center stage. They (mainly Alexander and Kelsey) began by talking about the tour they were just getting back from, mentioning this was the first show back in Texas. “…The rest of the country is weird…” Alexander said, as Kelsey said she would, “…Tour forever, but only in Texas.” Soon they got to the show, as Alexander said, “This is The Escape.” as he played the opening notes of the song on his baritone ukulele. It sounds even better live than on the record, as it begins with the two singing with very little music, which gives it a very exposed feeling. Then Kelsey’s voice surges ahead while Alexander’s backs off ever so slightly, and soon the full band entered the song as Carey played a semi-heavy beat. They did a couple more slower songs, “Day Dreamer”, which does have a real dreamy quality to it, and “Whiskey Dreams”, before picking up the pace a tad with “Cocaine Hurricane”. That one’s just a very fun song and it had everybody around the stage moving around to some extent. By the way, by this point in the show the band had grown tired of no one interacting with them and mentioned that they wouldn’t mind if anyone wanted to come up front. At first only myself and one other person did, but the active audience grew as their set progressed. Kelsey’s violin led them into the next song and one of my favorites, “I'll Figure You Out”. The two’s voices intertwine gorgeously throughout the songs, and this one is no exception, but I really like all they switch off during the first part with Kelsey singing the verses while Alexander handles the choruses. “We’re gonna slow things down a little, and then bring it back up.” Kelsey said, as they first did “Darling Divine”, a song that features just her singing, before getting to some of their new material. I’d mentioned in my interview that I liked how some of the songs had more of a minimalist sound while others more involved the full-band, and they said that their new stuff was more like that, since they were writing with the full-band in mind. This had me intrigued and I was looking forward to hearing it. They did three in all, the first of which was pretty good, while the slower “Stones” ended up being a highlight for me. But I think my most favorite of the bunch was the final new one, which I believe they said was titled “Time”, and had an awesome part on the keys that Evan hammered out. Also, before one of those songs, Kelsey made a comment about it, though I now don’t recall exactly what it was. “Did you say this song isn’t about anyone?” Alexander asked her. “No…” she replied and said it again, then added, “This song is about Dave Grohl. Oh, we forgot to put Dave Grohl on the guest list. The Foo Fighters are going to be so pissed.” They even broke into a rap around that point, as Carey laid down a beat fitting of that genre while Alexander began singing, “I hate my baby mama. I hate my baby mama, I hate, I hate I hate, I hate my baby mama…” with the rest of the band soon chiming in. Their show was nearing the end now, and they next did “Silly Things”, which tells one of the best stories of all their songs, and then concluded their 48 minute set with “Tale of You & Me”. Musically speaking, Wild Child may be one of the most awe-inspiring bands I’ve seen. I’ve mentioned more than a few times how magnificent the vocal harmonies and such are, but the music is just as creative. Matthew adds a lot to that sound, too, at times playing a banjo, others an accordion, and even a xylophone, which he may play whilst using one of those other instruments. The band has some shows coming up for SXSW in Austin which include; Monday, March 12th at the Scottish Rite Theater. Tuesday, March 13th at Beale Street Tavern for an official SXSW showcase, and lastly, Friday, March 16th at Shiner’s Saloon. They will also be in San Marco at the Texas Music Theater on Saturday, March 24th. You can also buy their album, “Pillow Talk”, either through their Bandcamp page or on iTunes. Closing out the night was the duo, Foxtrot Uniform. I really contemplated leaving after Wild Child, but I’m very glad I did not. For starters, they had free CDs, which drummer, Kelly Test, encouraged everyone to get one, saying, “We need new friends, ‘cause we obviously don’t have any.”, pointing out the fact that there was no one gathered around the stage. But far better than obtaining a free CD was how stellar the band was. Their sound was great and Kenny Uptains’ voice was superb, with both the music and vocals being a mix of rock, Americana, and folk. In all they played around 45 minutes, and with each song they did I found myself liking the band more and more. They have an EP out, “Hey! Mighty! Mighty!”, which you can download for free and they band has a ton of shows coming up, most of which are in their hometown of Fort Worth. They will be at the M Lounge on March 13th, 20th and the 27th. The Woodshed will host them on the 15th, 22nd and 29th. They’ll be back in Dallas on March 16th at the Bryan Street Tavern, and then Plucker’s in Grapevine on March 17th for an early show and then Magnolia Motor Lounge in Fort Worth for a later show that same night, and then be back there again on the 24th. Plus they have several others, so check out their Reverbnation page. This was an all around amazing show, and I want to again thank Melissa with Music Box Media and of course Wild Child for everything (setting up the interview, placing me on the guest list, doing the interview and just for being awesome people). This show also reminded me of something I haven’t thought of or stated on my blog in awhile; You can go out on any given night in this town and you are bound to find at least one band that will blow you away. In this case, all three acts did, the thing is more people need to realize what talent resides in this area, and then come out and support it.

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NOTE: If any bands want me to A.) write a review of their album or B.) wish me to play their music on my podcast, than email me. Also, I have partnered with Sawed Off Productions & WhiskeyBoy Radio, both of whom will help me present The Music Enthusiast showcases. If your band would be interested in performing at a future showcase, email me for consideration: [email protected]

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A note to whom it may interest: I’m wanting to get advertisers on my blog. If you are a band, music venue, or have any type of product or business whatsoever you want to promote, e-mail me at: [email protected] for full info. I will tell you now though, I get good traffic on my site and my prices will be VERY, VERY affordable to even the most broke bands/people. So please, allow me to help promote YOUR product constantly, and not just when I do a show review. Venues, I can list all your upcoming shows as I do for the Granada Theater. Bands, I can put up an image of your album cover and link that to iTunes, etc. Let me know if you would be interested in getting in on this exciting opportunity!