One-timeFlyer cover subject and arguably the world’s greatest
under-40 blues player, Alvin Youngblood Hart is the local music force
that isn’t. This constantly touring East Memphis resident doesn’t play locally
very often. As far as I know he’s played two Memphis shows so far this year —
not counting an appearance at a recent Prairie Home Companion broadcast
at The Orpheum. His show on a Tuesday night in February at the Hi-Tone
Café might be the best I’ve seen this year, as Hart and his crack
three-piece band whipped through a revelatory set that melded blues and
country and classic rock and nearly every other sound under the sun. He
brought out local singers Jackie Johnston and Susan Marshall for a set that
included a scorching version of the Rolling Stones’ “Sway.” I don’t
normally get excited by guitar players, but his playing was thrilling –
– precise, explosive, imaginative, and somehow never indulgent. It was the
most enthralling guitar performance I’ve seen since witnessing Built To
Spill’s Doug Martsch perform a similar feat half a dozen years ago. There were
maybe 70 people at the Hart show — maybe. Hart’s other local show this year
was at the Blues Tent at the Beale Street Music Fest — a similar set with the
same band, still great but less exciting due to the atmosphere. But Hart will
be back this week for a two-night stay at B.B. King’s Blues Club on Friday,
July 20th, and Saturday, July 21st. He’s the best Memphis has to offer right
now and you don’t get many chances to see him. Don’t miss it.– Chris
Herrington
Tyler Keith, former frontman for Oxford’s explosive Dixie-
thrash masters the Neckbones, returns to the Young Avenue Deli Saturday, July
21st. It’s Johnny Thunders meets Johnny Paycheck when Keith and his band the
Preacher’s Kids unleash their new-and-improved brand of defiant, working man’s
punk. Keith is a charismatic shouter whose furious guitar sermons can quickly
whip a crowd into a Pentecostal frenzy. His solo debut, Romeo Hood , is
not only the best release yet from the Monticello, Mississippi, label Black
Dog, it’s one of the best new discs I’ve heard all year. Grab it, spin it,
learn the words, and get revved up for a hell of a show. If the performance
they gave at Shangri-La Records a few months back is any indication, the Kids
like to play, and the rowdier the crowd gets the better. — Chris Davis
