In March of 2018, The Teskey Brothers performed for abouttwo dozen people at the Echo in Los Angeles. Part of a multi-band bill, the quartet was a relatively unknownentity. They ended their 45-minute setthat night with “Honeymoon,” the extended blues that closes their terrific album,Half Mile Harvest.
Just over a year later, the Teskeys were back in SouthernCalifornia, headlining The Troubadour, and selling out the famed West Hollywoodclub. It’s a rapid rise for theAustralian R&B band, on a U.S. tour of clubs and festivals before headingto Europe, and one that precedes the August release of Run Home Slow. For thishour-plus appearance, the foursome split the repertoire between a host of now-favoritesfrom Half Mile and previews of theirnewest.
In a symbolic bookend to that Echo date, the Teskeys, led bysinger-guitarist Josh Teskey and guitarist Sam Teskey, opened the evening with“Honeymoon,” building the tension of the first half’s lament before explodinginto a guitar-driven, double-time jam. Fueled by drummer Liam Gough, and buttressed by the bass playing ofNashville ace Kevin Black (Margo Price), the four expanded to six with theaddition of a two-piece horn section of trombone and trumpet for a fuller,richer attack. They followed the lengthystarter with the heart crushing “Crying Shame,” as Josh’s voice of duskyremorse crackled through the rafters.
Two more Half Miletracks- “Say You’ll Do” and “I Get Up”- came next, each met with cheers ofrecognition from the crowd. Joshrepeatedly thanked them for coming out, seeming almost stunned at the capacitymass crammed into the revered venue, as he introduced Black as playing withthem for the first time, subbing in on the road for founding bassist BrendonLove. They debuted “Rain,” due on theforthcoming new album, then shifted back to their classic soul-soaked gem,“Pain and Misery.”
After a pair of sharply dressed new numbers- “So Caught Up”and “Man of the Universe”- the six loosened with the clap-along stomp of“Louisa,” with Josh wailing away on harmonica. A funky closer came next on “Right For Me,” with the band duckingupstairs after for a brief few moments, and drawn back onstage for anencore. Yet only the Teskey siblings andGough returned. It was the trio’s turnto clap and stomp, setting the beat for an a capella rendering of “Hold Me”that moved the three off the stage and into the middle of the audience, swarmedby cell phones filming and fans singing along.The contrast of this finale, with the threesurrounded by pure adoration, to last year’s Echo show was impossible toignore. In just 14 months, The TeskeyBrothers had gone from the hard hustle of a Monday night in front of a fewdozen to a full house at one of the most revered music spots on the map. It was earned, deserved, and, with amuch-anticipated follow-up album on the way, perhaps just the beginning1
