Hank Williams Trib
Hank Williams Tribute
Girls Guns and Glory and The Sweet and Lowdown
Lizard Lounge Cambridge, MA
January 1, 2012
On September 17, 1923 Hank Williams was born. On January 1, 1953 he died at the age of 29. In between he completely altered the landscape of American music. The music he wrote, not only helped to define country music in the 1940s-1950s, but also all American music that followed. His influence is far reaching.
So far reaching in fact, that on the date of his memorial, fifty nine years after his untimely passing, two bands were speaking to his memory at a small club in the heart of Cambridge MA- a place that is far from his country roots both physically and culturally. For the second year running, making it an annual event, Girls Guns and Glory feted their musical mentor with two shows, a rich night of music, accompanied by the band the Sweet and Low Down. It was a terrific night of music at the Lizard Lounge, and a fitting memorial to Hank Williams.
I was lucky enough to attend the second show, having flown in from Chicago after a momentous New Year's eve run there (more on that later.) After a decent dinner upstairs at the Common Man restaurant, we wandered down to the Lizard Lounge, a small club in a basement location, with probably a dozen tables, a homey atmosphere, done up mostly in wood providing a warm atmosphere in which to see an intimate show like this. The capacity is less than 100, and having sold out the first show, the second show was added just a few days before.
The Sweet and Low Down opened and were amazing. The band is fronted by Rachel Price alongside Miss Tess, a well known figure in the Boston music scene. Price simply sang, and Miss Tess also played guitar. Alongside the two of them were an upright bass player, Zach Hickman presumably, a drummer, Matt Maier, and a piano player, James Rohr. The band was something that I had never seen before, playing jazz, country and blues standards from the 1930s-1950s, but were a band that likely was very common decades ago. The Andrews Sisters is not the right comparison, but their bright singing was reflected by Tess and Price; the Sweet and Low Down seemed like a band that frequented dance halls and beer emporiums throughout that time frame, perhaps where you could pick up a lady to dance with for 10 cents, or a place where a soldier returning from WWII might go and listen to great American music.
Their song selection was perfectly reflective of this. I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me (Billie Holiday.) Dream a Little Dream (written by Fabian / Wilbur - popularized by Louie Armstrong.) Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps (a Cuban folk song redone in English and popularized by Doris Day.) Violent Love (Wilile Dixon). 
Don't You Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes at Me (Wynonie Harris.) And of course the encore, the standard Tennessee Waltz which was done by nearly everyone including Patti Page and Patsy Cline, written by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King in 1946. The execution was dynamite, with amazingly powerful vocals, subtle yet rich accompaniment, and these great songs. It felt a little like going to school, appreciating the American song book and bringing these songs into a new light that younger audiences might not have heard before.
The instrumentation was perfect. Maier started on the drum kit and I was immediately struck by the similarity between him and Mike Calabrese. I've seen Calabrese with Girls Guns and Glory several times, and he is now on tour with Lakestreet Dive. A quick search on my cell phone revealed that Calabrese was the original drummer of this band too, so the similarities made sense, totally. Both the piano and upright bass did their perfect jobs of supplying the rhythmic core for the ladies up front, and when given their moments shone brightly. Price is a vocalist who should be both revered and feared- she can strike the notes and inject all the emotion that you want into a song. Miss Tess has both power and subtlety and is amazing. She did a great trumpet solo without the trumpet (McFerrin style) during Armstrong's number, and was even able to make it sound muted. That brought the room to its feet.
After a quick set break, it was time for the Girls Guns and Glory tribute to Hank Williams. This was the sixth show for them in five nights, and you could tell before the show started that lead singer Ward Hayden really could use some cowboy coffee. But the warm reception by the audience and his excitement about the night's worth of music that they planned energized him fully. After a quick false start while the band got ready, bolstered by a guest fiddler, Jason Anick, they launched into the first Hank tune of the night, Honky Tonk Blues. Adorned in a polyester cowboy dress suit with a cowboy's fedora, Ward Hayden completely looked the part of a cowboy songsmith and continued his homage to Hank Williams with one song after another: Ramblin' Man, followed by Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used to Do. The songs were rapid fire, with stories about the band's relation to Hank Williams told to the audience between songs. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It, Moanin' Blues, You're Going to Change or I'm Gonna Leave, and Settin' the Woods on Fire all came one after the other.
Miss Tess was asked to join the band on stage, after Ward let everyone know that she was the Patron Saint of Girls Guns and Glory. Heaven knows what that means, but it's clear that they hold her in very high regard. She joined the band for Your Cheatin' Heart. After that, Rachel Price also joined the band on stage and together, the seven pieces all in perfect harmony, the band ran through Weary Blues from Waittin' and then and amazing I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. (Check out the video of that in the attached section.)
The ladies left the stage and the tribute continued with Dear John. The band playfully passed the vocals around, each guy taking a chorus, which is highly unusual for them. Hayden typically does all of the vocals, and it was good to see everyone stretch out, reflecting their collective love for the material. They even changed the lyric during upright bassist Paul Dilley's chorus to reflect Dear Paul, instead of Dear John. Jambalaya (on the Bayou) followed. Then Hayden playfully got us all ready for some yodeling and the band launched into Hey Good Lookin'. He got the rest of the band to yodel too, and eventually the whole crowd was yodeling along to the chorus.
The show closed with the classic You Win Again. But the band was not done playing, feeling fully jazzed from their week of touring and this special night.
After a short break of 1-2 minutes, they came back to silence the boisterous applause with an extended encore. This is the point where they ceased being a Hank Wiliams tribute and turned back into Girls Guns and Glory. They opened with a song that they introduced as Chris Jam 2012, in honor of author and lead guitarist Chris Hersh who took this rollicking instrumental for a lead guitar ride! His interplay with guest fiddler Jason Anick was pronounced as they battled for hot lick supremacy. That song gave way to the GGG classic, 667, during which Hersch broke a string and had to take leave of the stage. Hayden was not daunted however, and he played a somber Something So Wrong Could Feel So Right while Hersh changed his string. The show concluded with a medley of a few different tunes to close out the night.
Several times, Hayden reflected on the contributions of Hank Williams, about how he was personally effected by Hank's music, and then expressed his hope to the audience that they could be right back in the same place one year later to make it an annual event stretching years to come. I, for one, would certainly welcome the idea of it for sure!
(Check out some video of I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry below.)
LMNR -
Tue, Jan 3, 2012, 4:30 P
