For the sake of convenience, let’s compare the three Wilson brothers in Sons of Bill to the three Wilson brothers that act in all those Wes Anderson movies. You’ve got singer and guitarist James Wilson, who’d be our Luke Wilson—the big-hearted stoic, with a carved-chin kind of handsome, the kind of dude you’d find playing the principled party man in Old School. There’s drummer Abe Wilson, who seems more like Andrew Wilson—a man whose underplayed presence keeps his brothers in line.
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C-VILLE Playlist What we’re listening to… “Old School” featuring Talib Kweli, by Danger Doom (from The Mouse and The Mask)—DJ Danger Mouse pinches the intro music for Kill Bill, and Kweli gets us “all twisted, like a yoga position.” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” by Bill Withers (from Lean On Me: The Best of Bill Withers) “Torch,” by Pinback (from Autumn of the Seraphs) “Family Tree,” by TV on the Radio (from Dear Science) “Intersong,” by Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman (from the Naked Lunch soundtrack) “Szerelem, Szerelem,” by Muzsikás (from The Prisoner’s Song) |
And then there’s the blond of each trio. The “butterscotch stallion,” as Owen Wilson is known—a tag that fits Sam Wilson, the 28-year-old lead guitarist for Sons of Bill. The kind of fellow whose intake is as diverse as his output, who stands by his brothers but has a few things to work out on his own. A thrilling supporting actor, sure, but an unpredictable lead.
Which makes his new solo record all the more enjoyable a listen. On November 21 at Gravity Lounge, Sam Wilson will release Green Gates, an 11-song album that includes songs from his pre-SoB years in New York City, runs through a few current tunes and ties together some of the wilder influences of modern rock.
“It hits everything from country to Beck, Radiohead…esoteric, vibe-y stuff,” says Wilson during a recent interview. “And there are a couple moments of two-guitar harmonies, a la Iron Maiden.” The album’s penultimate track, “Once in Your Life,” is “a kinda Police-inspired pop song…[drummer] Brian Caputo sounds like Stewart Copeland,” according to Wilson, but there’s more at work: the Jayhawks-meets-U2 fills from guitarist and secret weapon Brian Chenault, melodic bass from Old School Freight Train’s Darrell Muller, and the matured voice Wilson shows off throughout the album.
Given the schedule that Sons of Bill kept in the last year, Green Gates’ existence is as impressive as our blond Wilson’s performance on each hand-crafted tune. The Sons signed with Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management, won over country rock wild men Robert Earl Keen and Shooter Jennings and joined each on tour for a handful of dates, opened for the likes of Robert Randolph and is currently working on a new album in Los Angeles with producer Jim Scott, a vet of sessions with the likes of Wilco and Tom Petty.
“He did the Whiskeytown Stranger’s Almanac record, which I love,” says Wilson. “He’s worked with the Foo Fighters…and we sent him our stuff and he loved it.”
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Fortunate Son: Sam Wilson, the lead guitarist from Sons of Bill, unleashes his solo album, Green Gates, at Gravity Lounge. |
In a world of barnstormers, Sons of Bill may have the biggest barn and the loudest storm, but Wilson’s solo record is a horse of a different color. Wilson recorded Green Gates with cash earned through music lessons and studio work for other musicians, locally tracked at James McLaughlin’s Mountainside studio and mastered by Stewart Myers. It’s warm without being too hot, full of small, delicate riffs and patient melodies; Wilson tells me to listen to it through headphones, and that’s where it sounds best.
In fact, a few songs on the record carry the feel of another set of Wilson brothers.
“One song written in New York is ‘You Were Happy,’” says Wilson. “A lot of people compare it to Elliott Smith, but I really think of it more like a Brian Wilson, Beach Boys song.” A brotherly album, even from a solo Wilson.
Feedback Sessions: Birdlips
A lot can change in two months, but Birdlips’ Cardboard Wings remains one of the best records released by a local act this year, a suite of fluttering pop hooks and soaring melodies from Lindsay Pitts and Cliff Usher. All the more reason to invite the pair to record a Feedback Session!
On a chilly Thursday night, Birdlips perched in the C-VILLE office to perform a handful of songs—“Dream Within a Dream,” the closing track from Cardboard Wings, as well as two unreleased tunes—and transformed our workplace into a rock ’n’ roll aviary. To watch Birdlips’ Feedback Session, click here.
While you’re watching…
Country sharpshooters Jim Waive & The Young Divorcees and the apple of our local music tree, Sarah White, traveled to Richmond in June to perform as part of WHTJ-PBS’ “The Music Seen” festival. Now, WHTJ will air performances by each group alongside Richmond’s Blue Line Highway on Thursday, November 20, at 11pm.
It’s a good opportunity to get hooked on both Waive and White. The Young Divorcees still miss their fiddlin’ femme fatale, Anna Matijasic, but former King Wilkie stringsmith Nick Reeb stands strong alongside the area’s finest dobro player, Charlie Bell. And Sarah White’s work with guitarist Ted Pitney, another ex-Wilkie, has hit both a peak and a confident, propulsive stride; the pair has a few new tunes in the bank, as well as ripping versions of some older White tunes from White Light.
And if you miss the WHTJ broadcast, fear not: C-VILLE kicked up its heels to both acts during a gig on November 14 in the ballroom of Fry’s Springs Beach Club.
