TRIBUTE | Neil Young
Josh Roberts & the Hinges w/ Guilt Ridden Troubadour, Gaslight Street, Jordan Igoe, The Travelin’ Kine, Joel T. Hamilton, and Sideshow Americans
Wed. Oct. 28
9:30 p.m.
$10
The Pour House
One of the great things about playing a tribute show to Neil Young is that, given the size and stylistic breadth of his catalog, you can cover plenty of ground without the worry of crossing over. That’s the fortunate situation that Josh Roberts & the Hinges found themselves in when they created a tribute show and invited Guilt Ridden Troubadour, Gaslight Street, Jordan Igoe, the Travelin’ Kine, Joel T. Hamilton, and Sideshow Americans along. “With a multi-band lineup, there’s a lot of horse-trading about who’s doing what song, who’s going to play with who else,” Roberts says. “But the list is so extensive that, for the most part, people picked completely different songs. And of course, I selfishly claimed everything we wanted to do right away.” Roberts says that once he told the other bands who they were paying tribute to, filling out the bill was easy. “Everyone I asked immediately said yes,” he says. “I wish there could be double the bands on the bill, because there are so many more that I want to see do it. And that’s because, for a lot of us, Neil Young is the center of so many of the forms of music we play — whether it’s the country acoustic stuff, the singer-songwriter stuff, the long improvisational stuff, the outrageous synth-prog stuff, everybody can point to Neil Young and see something they like.” As for Roberts himself, he’s a Neil Young & Crazy Horse man. “My junior year of high school I think I watched [Young’s concert video] Rust Never Sleeps once a week,” he says. “I immersed myself in it.” —Vincent Harris WEDNESDAY
ROOTS COUNTRY | Matt Woods
w/ Erin Johns and Hunter Park
Wed. Oct. 28
9 p.m.
$5
The Sparrow
Matt Woods takes his last name seriously, channeling-down-and-dirty country music that takes you to the backwoods, drags you through a wilderness of heart-wrenching memories, and washes them down at the whiskey still. After working with Jeremy Mackinder earlier this year on a tour with Fifth on the Floor, Woods hatched the idea of taking a full band on the road with him. Heading out this October with his vision in tow, Woods will present his albums in a way that has yet to be heard. “We have been having fun with all of these tunes, but with the band out here, the rocking tunes like ‘[With Love from] Brushy Mountain’ and ‘Real Hard Times’ have taken on a life of their own. These guys are on fire,” says Woods. “Deadman’s Blues” is the first single from 2014 disc With Love from Brushy Mountain and continues to garner national attention as an emotional, mellow bluegrass ballad. As for his Americana and country contemporaries, Woods sees the success of Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson as an indication of a changing landscape in the genre. “As for the greats, I still listen to Kris Kristofferson and think he is top of the hill as far as songwriters go,” Woods adds. Woods is hoping to get in the studio soon to produce a new record and then hop back into the van by spring. He says, “I plan to do more full-band touring, because this is too much fun with the whole gang here.” —Kalyn Oyer WEDNESDAY
HIP-HOP | CHUCKTOWN Def Sounds
w/ Alan Fame, Sheed Staggs, Femi, Human Resources
Thurs. Oct. 29
9 p.m.
$10/adv., $15/door
The Pour House
In his quest to bring hip-hop to the forefront of the Charleston music scene, Manny Houston is debuting another #FAM (freed.artistic.minds) project: CHUCKTOWN Def Sounds, an energetic show that he says should remind you of a classic ’90s hip-hop house party. “A lot of times, people who are into hip-hop and rap would never know where to go in order to get their boom-bap fix,” Houston says. “So CHUCKTOWN Def Sounds is one event #FAM created to bring together rappers, rap-heads, and music lovers and to get people to start caring about the hip-hop scene in general.” Three local emcees will take the stage, including Houston himself as Alan Fame, along with Sheed Staggs and Femi. They’ll improv verses and stories while backed by a Roots-style live band led by Wilton Elder (Dillamental) and consisting of Lee Barbour (guitar), Shelton Desaussure (keys), Kenny Shider (bass), and AJ Jenkins (drums). “In the spirit of jamming, most of the raps will be made up on the spot, a lot like a guitar player taking a solo in a funk jam, or a trumpeter soloing in a jazz session,” Houston says. “The only people with some structure is the band.” But the first set will feature local indie-electro act Human Resources, which may have you asking, why the genre switch? “On top of this being a major hip-hop jam session, Def Sounds will also always feature an indie band,” he explains. “This is just one of the many grassroots efforts to support our original music scene and introduce people to bands they may not know.” Houston hopes Def Sounds will be a monthly event, in partnership with his Monday night Boom-Bap Sessions — a smaller scale, all-improved hip-hop show held at the Palace Hotel. The next session is set for Nov. 2 at 9:30 p.m. —Kelly Rae Smith THURSDAY
BLUES | Cedric Burnside Project
Fri. Oct. 30
10 p.m.
$5
Home Team BBQ Sullivan’s Island
Many musicians are lucky enough to grow up in a family that helps foster their love of music at an early age. There is a difference, however, between merely placing your child in guitar lessons and actually taking him on the road as a member of your band. Cedric Burnside was able to start a career as a professional under the tutelage of two legendary blues musicians: his grandfather “Big Daddy” R.L. Burnside and father Calvin Jackson. “My family drove me pretty hard growing up,” he says. “No matter how good I thought I was on the drums, they’d always tell me, ‘Nah, you gotta play better than that.’ It would make me upset, so I’d go and practice harder, and by the time of the next gig they would say, ‘Yeah, you’re sure better than last time, but you still need to work on this and that.’ But his family’s nagging inspired him to be the best. “I know how it is to kind of drive yourself crazy with what to do and how to do it,” Burnside says. “It paid off because I stayed with it. It made me who I am today.” These days, Burnside has made quite the name for himself on the blues circuit, no longer living under his grandfather’s significant shadow. Playing a distinct brand of the blues known as “hill-country blues,” Burnside packs venues. “The Project is just all about showing people what my Big Daddy instilled in me when I was coming up playing with him,” he says. “I watched him my whole life, and I’m trying to get my music out there while also keeping his memory alive. He inspired me to write a lot of my music as well, and I just want to show people what I picked up along the way.” —Isaac Weeks FRIDAY
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