I originally found Drag the River via a piece in the OC Weekly. I think they must have been coming to town so there was a little write-up about them. It was probably around Valentine's Day because for the past seven years the band has held down the Valentine's Day slot at The Gypsy Lounge. It sounded like the kind of band that would interest me, so I went to the local bebop shop and picked up a copy of Hobo's Demo's. Sure enough, I became a big fan of this band from For Collins, Colorado.What is it exactly that made me such a big fan of this band? First and foremost, I think I was drawn to this band for a sentimental reason. When I first heard Drag the River, the sound reminded me of one of my favorite bands to see when I was at Ohio State: Big Back 40. Without reminiscing too much, Big Back 40 was one of the cassettes (hey, I was driving a 1988 Ford Taurus at the time) I had in my car when I made the cross-country trek from Ohio to California. In that regard, it's no surprise that I became such a big fan of Drag the River.
The other reason is more tangible. I like this band because the guys just make honest music. There is no pretense on a Drag the River album. It is a band with two really good songwriters and great harmonies. The band has the ability to move from twangy ballads to real toe-tappers like "Get Drunk." Frankly, I can't find any reasons to dislike this band.
I will pass along one more anecdote. The first time I saw Drag the River perform live was at The Gypsy Lounge on Valentine's Day, 2007. I was standing near the stage as the band was preparing to begin its set. Well, I moved my arm at just the wrong time and knocked a drink off of the tray Jon was carrying to the stage. (Sorry about that, Jon.) He couldn't have been cooler about it. I replaced the drink I knocked over and everything was fine.
I was reading the OC Weekly about Drag the River's most recent (last?) show at The Gypsy Lounge and the writer reported that news of the band's break-up might have been exaggerated. So, did I see the last Drag the River show at The Gypsy Lounge? I don't know. I hope not. Even if I did, I will regularly have their CDs in my rotation.
Drag the River 7th Annual Valentine's Day Show at The Gypsy Lounge
Lake Forest, CA
Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price took the stage to begin the set. They performed five songs (including "Br00tal" and "Embrace") before they were joined by Chad Rex (bass) and Paul Rucker (drums). Jon said that the last time Paul played with the band was the annual Gypsy Lounge Valentine's Day show three years ago.
The band did a great job mixing it up, playing songs from You Can't Live This Way, It's Crazy, Hobo's Demo's and Closed. At one point, Jon said the performance was kind of like a practice. He was right. The band paused for a while between songs, trying to determine what to play next, and also for instructions to Paul Rucker and Chad Rex who had never played some of the songs. I have to say that Paul and Chad jumped right in and sounded good even on the songs they had never played. I think, that it would have been a better show if the band didn't take so long between songs. But I guess that sort of thing will happen when a band has two old/new members and the set list contains something like sixty songs.
The songs they played included a lot of the stuff you can find on Live at the Starlight. They played songs like "Indianapolis," Barroom Bliss," and "Booze and Pills." And the songs sounded really good. Maybe it's just greed on my part, but I wished they had squeezed in more songs before I left. What can I say? This was my second show of the week and I was flat-out beat.
Cory Branan preceded Drag the River. I was immediately impressed with the volume he gets since it's just him and an acoustic guitar. But then, maybe it's not so surprising considering the frenetic energy he displays on stage. In some songs, he wasn't so much playing his guitar as attacking it. He also has this habit of stepping away from the microphone like it's too hot to be near.
He opened with a song he wrote when he was listening to a lot of Thin Lizzy, and it showed. Branan also performed songs about drinking and one he described as "a song about amnesia and Soul Train." He mixed some funny anecdotes in between his songs and engaged the crowd very well. Jon Snodgrass joined him on stage and sang harmony vocals on the last song. Branan seemed to leave a pretty good impression on those that were there for his set. I'll say for the record that I was pretty impressed.
The evening began with a guitar duo called The City. The singer at times reminded me of Melissa Etheridge, but perhaps a little more raw. They played simple, catchy rock songs and they were a good warm-up for the two acts that followed.
Drag the River - You Can't Live This Way
5 Stars!
You Can't Live This Way is a lot of what you'd expect from a Drag the River album: namely Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price alternating between lead and harmony vocals and the band's trademark alt-country sound. This album also serves as something of a reunion with Spacey Casey on pedal steel and JJ Nobody on bass on some tracks.
The band also does some things a little differently. Some of the songs ("W. W. Too" and "Caleb's Grave" among others) feature only Jon and Chad. "Tobacco Fields" is a Chad Price solo tune. The band adds some horns on "Death of the Life of the Party" and "Rangement." "Fleeting Porch of Tide" incorporates some accordion, which I can't recall hearing on any other Drag the River album.
Like It's Crazy, this is a fairly mellow album. "Lost Angel Saloon" and "Bad Side of a Good Time" are pure honky tonk goodness. "Br00tal" hearkens back to Jon's days in Armchair Martian. Aside from the piano at the end, "Rangement" also sounds like something Armchair Martian might have played. "Pre-Post Party" and "Brookfield" definitely show Chad's rock roots. This is unmistakably a Drag the River album, but the members of the band show they're not afraid to try something a little unusual. The beauty of it is that no matter what they try, they make it sound really good. As has become a tradition with the band, the album closes with a hidden track comprising all the songs. As has become a tradition with me, I can listen to this Drag the River album a lot without getting tired of it.
