Music Review – Salvation with Allysen Callery and Haunt the House
Sunday, January 18, 2015
With summer crowds still a few months away, a series of one-of-a-kind shows this month at the Salvation Café has the music and arts community abuzz. The Salvation concerts are part of a month long residency organized by well known musician and Newport resident Bob Kendall. Two sell-out shows later, with two more to go, the result is an unqualified success.
When Kendall was offered a “residency” at the popular Newport restaurant, he took it a step further, inviting a few friends. His idea was to invite a pair of musicians as well as a visual artist to each show, encouraging collaboration between the two mediums. We were there last Thursday for what was a truly enchanting evening.
Artist Will Schaff
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWith an evolving set designed by Warren artist Will Schaff, this multi-media performance was not your usual gig. Schaff, a “crypto-skull artist,” has designed album covers for several area bands including Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Brown Bird, and Thursday’s opener Allysen Callery. He put together an expansive set with a “dustbowl shack” theme, complete with a few skulls and candles - a perfect fit for the evening’s musical performers.
The musicians featured were a couple of well know local acts, UK Folk Revival singer-songwriter Allysen Callery and Americana upstarts Haunt the House. Both acts were recently selected by Paste Magazine as 10 Rhode Island Bands You Should Listen to Now.
Allysen Callery – Ghost Folk
Callery, who excels on covers and originals, opened the show with “Crab Apple,” a new song from her upcoming album. Next came a delicate version of Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane,” sounding much the opposite of Young’s distorted Crazy Horse anthem. It’s a new song in her concert repertoire, but actually one of the first she learned over 20 years ago.
Mid-set she humbly claimed “I can’t play the blues, but I've lived them.” Of course we all know that living them is license to play them, and she demonstrated that on her original “Shoot Me.” Its Southern Gothic Ghost Blues… if there is such a genre.
Callery/Kendall
Callery was then joined by MC Bob Kendall who provided some background texture (using an Ebow on his electric guitar) on several songs including “Spare Parts,” “The Huntsman,” and “Blackwaterside,” a traditional English folk song originally recorded by Anne Briggs.
“I Had a Lover I Thought Was My Own” might be her best original song. Behind superb guitar playing, the bittersweet lyrics regarding the town gigolo and a woman pursuing him are powerful.
"I had a lover I though was my own
I 'd slip from my bed while my husband was sleeping
Once I drove to his house but the door was locked
I could see he had the candles all lit"
Late in her set, a down tempo “Sundown,” held those assembled spellbound. I’ve never really been a fan of the overplayed Gordon Lightfoot version from the 1970s, but Callery’s eerie take is exquisite, showcasing her delicate phrasing and precise finger style guitar work.
Beyond her self-effacing stage presence, Callery is an exceptional artist, with a lilting voice and lyrics that resonate. With several European tours and an appearance at the prestigious SXSW festival in 2014, she’s poised to gain even more notoriety. Keep an eye out for her 2015 release.
Haunt the House
Haunt the House has a truly unique sound. Behind Will Houlihan’s vibrato-like vocals, Amato Zinno’s acoustic bass magic, and Bessie Beesin’s warm accordion, their gentle harmonies offset the often gloomy lyrics.
The Roots/Americana band has gotten a lot of attention locally and is primed for national recognition. They play old-timey “front porch music” with heartfelt lyrics that suck you in. They’re part of the tradition of “that old weird America,” a term coined by Rock Critic Greil Marcus.
Jack Rabbit Jones
Playing their first sell out concert, the band spotlighted material from the recent album “Jack Rabbit Jones.” The album is a near masterpiece in the confessional singer songwriter genre. The lyrics are dark for sure, but it’s way more than just a great break up album – the heartbreak reaches biblical proportions on several tunes.
In the gently melodic “Little Bird” Houlihan sings:
"Distant lives and distant lovers
you were once my little bird
i went over waterfalls in barrels i was that absurd
i was to prove my love i was i was"
The song unlocks an album that truly tells a story. Bookended with pleas for a lost lover called Prairie, to “please come home,” the narrator appears pretty desperate at times.
As clouds literally gathered on stage (thanks to Schaff), the band moved into an eerie “Jealous Vow.” Houlihan sings:
"Prairie i have waited for you every night and day
but your time was better spent in the arms of another man
you were cutting off my fingertips to better ease the pain
of the creeping death of poison in my meals we couldn't spare"
As mentioned, there’s an old-timey religious feel on some of their songs. On the set opener “Mosquito Coast,” the band sings
"Tell my boys not to drink no gin
you can't leave the tavern if you never go in
and Jesus Christ will tell you it's a sin
if in excess, alcohol there is within"
Will Houllihan has put together a band with a lot of potential. He’s another artist who has lived the blues, and that comes through loud and clear in his music. Check them out here and tell your friends to do the same.
More Salvation
The Salvation Cafe series continues every Thursday in January. The series is also part of the 1 of 52 hunger network and concertgoers are encouraged to donate canned goods. Tickets for the January 22 show with Smith and Weeden and Tyler James (The Silks) along with Swamp Yankee Art are available here. The final show, featuring the Brothers Kendall and Newport’s own Muse Tanya Donelly, is already sold out.
For more Allysen Callery, click here.
For more Haunt the House, click here.
Ken Abrams reviews Roots, Rock and Blues for GoLocalProv. E-mail him here.
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