The Gary Newcomb Trio: Slide Guitar Master Newcomb
Jerm Pollett (The Catfish Hunters) mentioned The Gary Newcomb Trio being one of his favorite bands during a set at The Carousel Lounge last summer, and I made a mental note to check them out live sometime. (I tend to believe the hype when it comes from a fan who happens to be one of my favorites.) That sometime to check them out is now, when the trio is playing at Club De Ville this summer. I missed the July 9th show (among a few others since last year, including an Austin Alt Country showcase), but if I'm not too busy with the local movie scene, I'll finally hear them live tonight.
When you listen to an indie pop band which includes Merle Haggard, Duke Ellington, and Björk in a list of influences, you can expect it to be a little less easy to describe why you like them. The still unsigned and independent Gary Newcomb Trio is not an easy band to describe, but a joy to listen to because they combine elements of three seemingly different genres to create a sound - a mood really - that make it worth listening to when you're not in the mood for hard rock. Yet the band rocks.
The country is in Gary Newcomb's slide guitar ("Daisy Don't"). The trio shifts easily between genres, which make it the perfect cocktail party band for mixed company, and the perfect bar band - without the imitating, trifling covers. The jazz is more difficult to describe, but it's in the compositions and the soft lounge rock delivery of Newcomb's vocals ("Firefly"). The pop element consists of deceptively familiar melodies courtesy of Newcomb on vocals, with a deceptively laidback rhythm section - Brandon Gonzales on bass, and Billy Doughty on drums. The tracks I've heard lulled ("So Sensitive") and rocked me ("For The Birds (Bluebird)" when I least expected it.
I was more familiar with Newcomb playing bass with Pollett's The Total Foxes, but it isn't a secret that he's one of the most talented slide guitarists in Austin as a member of Li'l Cap'n Travis. I love slide guitar in country music as much as I love the mandolin and the banjo, and wish more bands from Nashville would realize these traditional or classic country instruments sound much better than the current slick pop guitar aesthetics. The Gary Newcomb Trio uses the slide guitar in a way that makes it bubbly pop to my ears - with a lingering feeling of wanting to hear more. I can't write that about most of the pop I hear on commercial radio.
Since I'm hearing about this show a little late, I didn't have time to ask the artist's permission to allow a free mp3 preview/download, so I'll provide a link to their MySpace page instead. (Which seems appropriate since this blog started as a MySpace group.) Myspace.com/thegarynewcombtrio contains the four tracks I mentioned, now available for download. I'm not sure when they'll be unavailable or removed, so I recommend acting fast and checking them out today.
And I recommend hearing the band live tonight:
The Gary Newcomb Trio
9 pm, Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Club De Ville
900 Red River
Austin, TX 78701 21+/Cover ($?)
Just another promising night of local entertainment, and one more reason to take a detour from the humdrum cover bands at 6th street bars/tourist traps.
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