Indie Folk? We Got 'Em

I still need your digital camera

Archer Prewitt, Angela Desveaux, Honey Church, Ponie Heart
The Khyber
12/12

First, a big thank you to the hardworking folks over at Philebrity for plugging this one. I would not have found out otherwise. Second, I should let you know that I've decided to give up on big shows. If there's going to be more than 500 people, I don't want anything to do with it. Chances are the show's all ages, and half the crowd will be full of sixteen year olds that are already becoming way too absorbed in alt-scenesterism and drugs and are running around the venue like chickens with their heads cut off. Case in point, the Broken Social Scene show a while back at the Electric Factory was down right egregious. There was a big performance going on, and from what I observed, CJR and I were the only people trying to watch it. So when I saw that Archer Prewitt, this cat whose latest record, Wilderness, I've liked a lot for the last couple of years (you can read this to find out exactly why; I agree with it entirely) was playing The Khyber on a Tuesday night, I said to myself, actually uttered it out loud, "perfect." And I was not disappointed. At no point in the night did the crowd exceed 30.

Unfortunately, as I found out about Tuesday night so very last second (7:30) I missed opener Ponie Heart. But judging from the quality of the other opening acts, Honey Church and Angela Desveaux, I would have to think that it was at the least average indie folk / country, which depending on the mood your in, if you happen to be in the same self-pitying one that I was in Tuesday night, can be pretty endearing stuff. Reason why is it follows the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) formula to the T. The music was definitely without pretense, the majority of it written in 3/4 time, and performed by people who were obviously not 21 year old hipsters. Also remember they were playing for mere handfuls of people. It was like they were playing for me. Honey Church are a local getup that are currently a diamond in the rough. A little more diversity in the song structures, like some key changes, and more poetic lyrics and they'll have something. It was pretty much the same deal with Ms. Desveaux-- she just needs to come up with some sort of schtick to differentiate herself from the pack and she'll be fine. On the plus side, she and her band had some positive things to say about cheesesteaks. And without doubt all of these bands are much better live than John Vanderslice. Trust me.

Prewitt and band were great. Clearly, these guys are grizzled veterans of the indie scene. Keyboardist / laptopper / trumpeter, I think his name was Mike, was kind enough to reveal that he was 44. His long gray hair, goatee, and slightly more than hipster thin frame was far more refreshing, and far more provocative on stage than the anorexic-Asian-indie-hipper than thou-girl-keyboardist cliche. Not that I'm hating, anorexic Asians (as a matter of fact I'm currently accepting applications for an anorexic Asian hipster girlfriend in the comments section), just saying different is refreshing. But yeah, these guys were talented. As some of Wilderness' material borders on the saccharine, the band did a masterful job erasing any such traces live, even on songs such as "No More", "Without You" and "Wilderness." All of the songs played were infused with a psychedelic, hard rock edge, giving them far more pop and zest than on the record. It was very encouraging to hear a band which is at heart into "chill" music move out of its comfort zone and pump some enthusiasm into its live act.

This night was the best surprise I've had all year. I did not feel like it was a guilty pleasure either-- there were no thoughts of "but it sucks that these people will not get wealthy from doing this." Prewitt & Co. knew well what the turnout was going to be, but put forth great effort anyway. My guess, they did it because they needed to do it for themselves and for their art. And if that isn't an uplifting thought at a time when "indie" is becoming heavily commercialized, then I don't know what is.