music
For those with eclectic tastes in a cosmopolitan hamlet like Charlottesville, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how great Southern music can be, especially when played live. Three solid acts at the Outback Lodge served as a healthy reminder.
Black Twig played first and, despite sharing three members with Blacksburg-based noise-and-folk acts Pelt and Spiral Joy Band, the band was in full traditional mode. On banjo, guitar and washboard, the band played a range of folk and bluegrass standards, revealing an extensive knowledge of the music’s history.
Although they’re known for the long-form drones they’ve explored elsewhere, Black Twig’s secret weapon is the fact that these guys have some serious old-timey chops—accomplished avant-garde musicians that you can find busking for beer money on the Downtown Mall. It’s always nice to see them again in one form or another.
Mr. Baby was next. Megan Huddleston led on vocals and acoustic guitar, with Jesse Fiske and Ferd Lionel Moyse of the Hackensaw Boys on electric guitar and stand-up bass, backed by local personality Philip St. Ours on drums. Each are known as folkies in their own right, but collectively they played something closer to dark country rock.
Huddleston’s material is occasionally brilliant, with standout lyrics like "A stranger asserted his independence by drowning in the Rivanna./ They haven’t found his body yet, so I avert my gaze over every bridge I cross." The softer material suffered from translation, occasionally veering into bluesy entropy. Thankfully it wasn’t a matter of ability, merely a question of which material is better suited for which style; Baby’s best moments came during the P.J. Harvey-ish uptempo rockers.
Amores perros: Casa de Chihuahua perform a lively set of barn-burners for a scant crowd at the Outback Lodge.
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By the time Casa De Chihuahua hit the stage, the crowd was inebriated and totally receptive as the band ripped through energetic folk-country with a fearsome intensity. These recent Brooklyn transplants blazed through a set that was rough, rugged and satisfying.
| Take a listen to "Firefly" from Casa De Chihuahua‘s Amat Victoria Curam:
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Zack Orion played guitar and sang in a grizzled yelp, Morgan O’Kane kicked up a storm on the banjo and Nico Ramirez played the washboard, sneering backup vocals through a cigarette. Hackensaw Boy Moyse stayed onstage to fill in on bass.
Though the hour was late and the venue uncrowded, dancing broke out and the energy level was suitably high. The Chihuahuas were gracious to the end, at a point exclaiming "Thanks for listening to that one—you guys are generous!" although no concession was needed; the Chihuahuas’ hearty ruckus was the perfect way to conclude the evening.
