Photos by Norman Sands
So much divisiveness is being displayed in the political arena as our country leads up to election day. It’s a breath of fresh air to escape for an evening and listen to bands that practice harmony and preach the importance of family whatever your creed, race, or religion. The night was a celebration for The Giving Tree Band’s new album Vacilador and they invited two bands along in The Ragbirds and Old Shoe that are part of the folk rock family building steam as they tour the Midwest. House of Blues has a quote above its main stage that reads “Unity in Diversity” and has emblems all faiths and beliefs. Fittingly enough right from the start there was a warmth and communal feeling in the crowd. The stage was set as the curtain was drawn to reveal the first act of the night, Chicago’s own Old Shoe.
Old Shoe are the hosts of the annual Shoe Fest music festival which The Giving Tree band played in early September. The band’s current arrangement of Matt Robinson (vocals, Guitar), Paul Priest (vocals, Guitar), Dan Huber (bass), Joe Day (Vocals, Keys), and Family Groove Company’s Mattias Blanck (Drums) opened with “Crazy Ride”. The third track off their self titled 2009 release, Robinson immediately brought every listener 15 feet closer to the stage with his lyrics telling of the spontaneity of a youthful sojourn on the back of a motocycle. “When you travel young, you always get up for more” is a verse in the song that one could say describes the bands outlook towards living. The experience in each band members musical repertoire belies their energy and effort to get to this point. The trajectory of a band in its third year shows why they have been so successful building organically while maintaining their core values. Each member brings a rich tapestry of sound and different elements to the mix that blends to create a mind melding masterpiece in its entirety. On “Song For Dad,” an instrumental number heavily laying on Day’s signature Nord/Leslie combination, they show that beauty doesn’t have to be spoken to be heard. The song builds towards the end after a ballad laden crescendo into a Latin samba influenced tempo as Priest’s electric Fender dances over the rhythm section with Huber on upright bass furiously handling the back end to perfection.
A nod to the Grateful Dead followed as they invited Todd Fink (Banjo) from the GTB to join them for a rendition of Simon/Garfunkel penned “Peggy-O.” Priest’s handling of the vocals would make the late great gentle giant Garcia proud, and Fink’s acoustic banjo solo harkens back to the more traditional sound on the Columbia Recording Sessions during its original composition in the mid-sixties. Mattias Blanck’s snare started “Michigan” as sung by Day. The pace of this song ebbs and flows like a river winding through the forests of the mitten shaped state. Day’s range is palpable and quite frankly comparable to some of the best crooners in the industry. You can tell he is born with a gift which he nurtures with countless hours of practice and an understanding of when to put it to use. The easy going number is immediately contrasted by the familiar Widespread Panic classic “Tall Boy.” Old Shoe knew that the night was a party and this tune with its fully expansive guitar solos by Priest reflected just that. As Robinson and Day play their best John Bell impersonation to a packed room of many who sang along for the ride. Following up the southern classic, which the bartenders surely appreciated towards their sales for the evening, was “Let Yourself In.” The title track of the bands most recent release was a dance party waiting to happen. Day’s keyboard effects complemented the power chord laced guitar riffs and the crowd didn’t let the opportunity to get down pass them by and gave Old Shoe much deserved adoration as the curtain closed.
The Ragbirds are true family with Erin and TJ Zindle being connected from birth as well as percussionist Randall Moore being the former’s husband. “We Belong To the Love” started things off and fit the familial theme of the evening. Erin, clad in a stunning shimmering dress that looked as if she harnessed the cosmos took violin in hand and encouraged audience participation as she began a rhythmic clap. The crowd stayed with her during the tango influenced “Brave New Beat” off their 2007 release Wanderlove. The moral of the song tells of learning to let go of unhealthy relationships and the trappings that come and “make friends with love and mercy.” This was not lost on many who started pairing off and sauntering back and forth across the pit. “Bully” is as Zindle recounts about standing up to bullies. Upbeat and optimistic Zindle sings and plays accordion and thanks the Giving Tree Band for having their band at the party. It’s nice to see groups remain so loyal to their fan base and friends who got them to such great heights. The lyrics to the first verse are true to how Zindle acts onstage. She is a “jumpy little mouse” that is unassumingly grounded despite her immense talent. She commands attention, but never looks as though she craves it.
“Lemon Grove” flowed sweetly as TJ’s backing vocals complemented the lilting melodies of his sister again plucking away at her violin. A West African boogie broke out as the Ragbirds performed the old african tribal dance “Moribayassa” of which the lyrics are featured by the sirens in the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou? “Good,” an optimistic ditty with an element of the Beatles “Norwegian Wood,” shows off Zindle on mandolin almost sounding like Harrison’s sitar at times. The band’s influences are palpable enough to shine through original melodies and lyrics but subtle enough to leave you curious on what direction they will choose for their next adventure. “Book Of Matches>Romanian Train Song” is a gypsy-laden violin measure that has a tease of the famous “Devil Went Down to Georgia” placed perfectly. Closing your eyes evokes times where you stared into a campfire. Flames dance and move with the time signature and the band controls them in a free form beautifully organic structure. Ending with “Lucky Rhythm” a Paul Simon Graceland sounding number the curtain closed and the stage was set for the headliner.
Photo by Norman Sands
Unbeknownst to many The Giving Tree Band’s recent release Vacilador is a reference to a word found in the 1947 John Steinbeck novel Travels With Charley. The verb vacilar, Steinbeck contends, does not have a comparable word in English. It means that you’re aiming at someplace, but you don’t care much whether you get there and that once you arrive what you have done may far exceed what you anticipated was the outcome. It is telling is that the seven person ensemble embodies that mantra of the journey being the adventure and not the final destination the goal. The band’s lives are intertwined together from dusk until dawn and GTB’s stage presence is as natural as the wood which their instruments are carved which along with good honest lyrics make them accessible.
With a trip to Rhodes, Greece the very next day the not-quite-wayward vagabonds prepared for take-off in front of their hometown crowd. The curtain was drawn and like any good showmen display there was an element of choreography as they launched into the first track off Vacilador called “Cold Cold Rain.” Earthy acoustic and genuine lyrics that speak to all walks of life explaining why the Fink brothers and crew have racked up nearly 60,000 miles touring this year as they spread their environmentally friendly carbon neutral green gospel across the land. Their instrumentation and arrangement onstage has some comparing their sound to pretty grandiose company in The Band and Mumford & Sons. Living together in a house in Yorkville, IL where they originated and record their music it was easy to draw the line to The Band’s classic album Music From Big Pink. Late in the evening they even paid tribute to their influential brethren with the Dylan classic “I Shall Be Released” with Norm Norman on piano lending falsetto vocals. Vacilador has what The Austin Chronicle has called one of the best covers of 2012 so far in “Brown Eyed Women”, and GTB brought out another Grateful Dead classic from the cupboard in “I Know You Rider” as one of the two song encores (A Song For You by Gram Parsons being the other).
Covers drew the casual listener closer, but the set list was filled with originals that pulled from two of the GTB’s three previous releases Great Possessions (2009), and The Joke, The Threat, The Obvious (2010). “Peace On The Mountain” and “That’s The Time” off Possessions were placed together after the opener and sounded much sparser and rustic than the contrasting “River King” which had a distinctively Dylan circa ‘75 sound to it. Rich sounding with a base heavy drum intro and rhythm section timing reminiscent of “The Weight” Eric Fink’s down home vocals seemed to find a sweet spot in every ear standing in front of him. When the band played four songs off Joke: “Red Leaves”>”Moonlight Lady”>”Caged Lion”> “Circles” there was a feeling of contentment visible onstage and contagious as it spread to the pit where people danced, twirled, or shuffled. In a past interview the band indicated that these songs are most representative of The Giving Tree’s sound, and it was a welcome auditory experience to take in first hand.
Vacilador’s “Limbo” and “Dead Heroes” have a complexity and demonstrated the bands collective growth in arrangement, structure, and style. On this night “Limbo” was a bouncy jaunt around the block and a throwback to an earlier period of music. Swinging bass and horns along with some echoing grit and distortion effects to the vocals gave a hint of Beatlesesque rock.
Throughout the set backing vocals harmonized succinctly without overpowering whoever sang lead. As the curtain closed and the band took in worthy applause of their devoted following I wished these Vacilador’s safe travels and knew that whatever the path they took smiles and a warm comforting feeling was bound to follow close behind.
