09.25.07

It’s time to do that Muckle-thing (bands to go see, part one, Scott Miller)

Posted in mucklewain, some albums we done liked others we ain't - September 25th, 2007 at 3:34 pm by Mimi

Mucklewain! She is upon us again. This year, the show isn’t, um, in Belize… it was in Belize last year, right? It seems like we were in the car for seven days. No? Well, all the same this year, the show’s in Pinewood, TN which is 45 miles from Nashville, according to the Official Mucklewain website. Since I drive as little as possible, to me that reads like “Mucklewain is a couple comic books and one stop to pee away from home.” [Indeed. Pinewood is about halfway to Bucksnort, TN, everyone's favorite vacation destination. If we drive fast enough and no one drinks in the car, we not even have to make the pee stop.—Cricket] [I make no such promises.—Daisy]

Unlike last year, the festival is two days–September 28 & 29. Shows start about 5pm on Friday and again at 11am on Saturday. It’s a rock show, so these times are approximate.

Hold up! I was just consulting the schedule: Cory Branan and Scott Miller are playing at the same time? Why is it that if I go to anything with multiple stages this happens to me? I am starting to think it’s an evil fairy’s curse from my birth.

Scott Miller and the Commonwealth – Reconstruction

I think my favorite track on this record is “Dear Sarah.” It’s a sort of throw-back war ballad/train ballad that’s mostly a sing-a-long. Naturally, that kind of song is made for live albums. The track never gets truly raucous, but there’s some crowd participation and beer bottle tinkling, which makes me want to be in a small club singing traditional music along with an enthusiastic band. This song also has the added benefit to me personally of having a lyric about the murder ballad “Barbry Allen” that I can never find anyone to play in Nashville—and I think that’s really weird; it’s become my personal in-joke to myself. So, nice one, Scott. Do you know how to play it?

This is my deal with Scott Miller: when I first heard his record, Citation, I was not all that in to it. I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t mooncalfing over it, either. Then, of course, I saw him live. Now that I’ve seen and experienced Scott directly, it seems the glow of his personality has been produced right out of Citation. The album walks the line between pop country and radio-friendly adult contemporary, and considering how smart Scott seems to be, maybe that was a concerted career move. To which I say, kudos, my son, kudos, sell some records! His live act, though, is full of charm and verve and that little something extra that I felt the studio record was missing. I think to a large measure, this comes from Scott himself who is witty, engaging, and clearly smart as a whip. Who doesn’t like a smart boy with a guitar? Oh, you, Osmonds, hush!

Reconstruction also has that slightly rougher feel than Citation, so if you can’t catch Scott Miller and the Commonwealth at Mucklewain, buy the record. You’ll also hear what a tight, planned set sounds like. [Reconstruction is, essentially, a reconstruction of Scott's entire career, including his days in the V-Roys, songs from all albums played live, so yes, it sounds rougher and more like Scott himself. Which is, as Mimi says, so totally a bonus.—Cricket]

Other sets at Mucklewain where you will definitely find one or more of us: Lucero (ahahaha, right, like you doubted that! We’ll be the really drunk ones. The GIRLS.), Todd Snider, Will Hoge, Garrison Starr. Come down, hang out. See some bands. It’s the last gasp of summer, and soon the cicadas and the humidity will fully transition into tailgating and the Fall TV schedule, so stretch out that languidness of summer one more weekend by coming on down to Pinewood, TN and seeing some music.

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