Despite the implication of a history dating back to the 19th-century manifest destiny of the western United States, Pioneertown is, in fact, a mid-20th– century illusion of sorts; a village, in the high desert of Southern California, merely resembling the Old West, created and built by entrepreneurial Hollywood actors in the 1940s.  Its not-quite isolated location on the outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park, and a short drive from Palm Springs, made it a convenient curiosity for visitors to the area.  More importantly to music fans, though, is the current attraction of Pioneertown; as a hideaway home to one of the jamband scene’s favorite spots: Pappy and Harriet’s.

The small club has long been an oasis for improvisational pioneers and, on this December night in 2021, was again an outpost for one of California’s finer innovators of modern psychedelic rock-and-roll, Howlin Rain.  So, in an ideal venue and fresh off the previous night’s sparkling stop in L.A.’s Venice Beach, the Bay-Area quartet was primed for a hot one.  Smoking enough, indeed, to release it as Volume 5 of an ongoing Under The Wheels live series through Howlin captain Ethan Miller’s record label, Silver Current.

(The Venice West appearance serves, neatly, as Volume 4; a full-show companion piece to the Pioneertown set and available online.)

As for Volume 5, these are the select superior cuts of that night’s performance, with an opening “Dharma Wheel” that echoes Pink Floyd as it transitions, six minutes in, from volleying guitar pyrotechnics to a funktastic groove that develops layer after layer of invention.  The extended piece dominates the six-song, single-disc collection, but is only the beginning of the increasingly intense twin-guitar work from Miller and newest Howlin six-stringer, Jason Soda.  The Beatle-esque line that launches “Under The Wheels” is a clever wink to the classic influences that cycle through Miller’s kaleidoscopic view-finder; throw in Neil Young’s Crazy Horse gallop, for good measure.

Yet, these four are not without nuances and statements all their own; the acid-poem imagery of Miller’s verses; his proficient range and impassioned vocals- notably on the quieter “Annabelle;” the purposeful jams that remain unique night to night, but are not without structure- as comparing Volumes 4 & 5 and their similar repertoire reveal.

Howlin Rain as a conceptual vehicle for Miller is into a second decade.  These two volumes, as the band emerges from the COVID-19 layoff, are excellent summaries of where the Rain is falling at the moment.  The Pioneertown set is cleaner and more robust sonically; the Venice show compiles a matrix taper recording and, as such, has rougher edges.  Both, though, showcase a quartet that sounds in full-throttle ascent- riding the lightning from coastline to mountain high; resolute psychonauts, under the wheels, into the sky.