Sounds Good: Steve Earle@Uptown, Dollar Fox@???, An Horse@Jackpot

Wednesday, September 21st

Steve Earle at the Uptown Theater in KC

Steve Earle is a one-of-a-kind American folk musician who got his start writing songs for the likes of Carl Perkins, Johnny Lee, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner.  His latest album, I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive, was produced by T Bone Burnett and features a host of top notch studio musicians filling in behind the masterful songwriter.

This tour features a backing band that Earle calls The Dukes (and Duchesses) and includes his wife, singer Allison Moorer, who is the younger sister of country singer Shelby Lynne. 

Reviews of Earle’s new album and tour have been mostly positive, with many critics observing that, with this album, he’s getting back to his gritty roots, but with splashes of polished silver poking through from time to time maybe due in part to Burnett’s production work.  Whatever it is, you can bet that the concert will be a raucous foot stomping affair. 

Plus, if you are a serious music fan and haven’t seen Steve-o yet, you simply have to experience this living legend in person.  Otherwise, maybe you aren’t as serious as you thought.

Friday, September 23rd

Dollar Fox at… somewhere in KCMO "north of 75th Street"

Anyone up for an adventure this weekend?  Maybe a little hootenanny?  Maybe some hootin’ and hollerin’?  If so, here’s a secret-ish show that is being promoted by Dollar Fox as if it were a top secret ass shaking mission.  Which it kind of is.

From their website:

"This show will be held at a secret location, to be revealed only on the day of the show. For those of you wanting to have an idea of where this event is, know that the location will be within the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri north of 75th Street.
 
This show will be pre-ticketed. Tickets are available at our Music and Merch page for $5 apiece. You may purchase more than one ticket for you and your guests, though we will need your name at the time of purchase for check in purposes on the day of show.
 
On the day of the show you will receive the address of the show and additional instructions sent via email.
 
This show will run between the hours of 7p.m. and 10p.m. on September 23rd."

And it’s BYOB!!  It also features LA band The Peculiar Pretzelman as well as The Hillary Watts Riot. 

If I wasn’t going to be out at LIVESTRONG for one of the biggest games of the year Friday night, I’d be all over this deal, it sounds pretty cool.  Check their website at dollarfox.com for the deets.

Saturday, September 24th

An Horse at the Jackpot in Lawrence

This boy-girl duo from Australia gained some notoriety when they opened for Canadian pixies Tegan & Sara in 2008.  Then they got picked up by Death Cab for its Australian tour.  And this past summer they performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago.  Not too shabby for a brand new band who met while working in a record store together.
 
“We’d worked in the record store together for a couple of years and talked every day — even on days off — mostly about music and film, which we continue to do every day now,” explained Damon Cox, the drummer and co-singer.  “After listening to music all day together at work for two years, we had a really clear idea of what we liked and disliked musically.”

To me, An Horse sounds like a little edgier version of the Weepies, or a little less-cute Tegan & Sara with their simple bedroom songs of loss, love, and angst.