Brent Kirby & The Shapeshifters + bonus New Soft Shoe

I was late on this whole Jack Fords thing.  The first time I got to see or hear Brent Kirby or any of his many projects was one of my first stops on my 52 Weeks tour at the now defunct Town Fryer for a benefit concert.  I was amazed at the song craftsmanship seeing this cat play solo.  Throw him in front of the Jack Fords and you have pure rock and roll with this hint of an Alt-Country Wilco thing hiding in the background.  Just when you thought they would get more twangy they got more rock.  The talent in the Jack Fords alone is ridiculous to say the least.  

Fast forward a couple weeks later and I check Brent do a solo show again at Brothers lounge.  He was doing quite a lot of the material that would end up on his new CD Last Song on the Soundtrack.  Just a guy and his guitar.  Turn the clock ahead to Thursday April 9th and I had to check out his project he is playing in called The New Soft Shoe; a Gram Parsons tribute band.  To say I was blown away would be an understatement.  Tribute bands in Cleveland are all over the place.  For the most part they are all pretty cliche, and 90% of them are metal. I have even seen a Santana cover band out there which I don't 100% get but that really has nothing to do with where I am heading here.  The Gram Parsons legacy is legendary.  Without him it is doubtful you would have the country twang of some the Stones records, you wouldn't have Emmylou, and Nudie suits never would have happened.  

There are certain things in life you probably shouldn't fuck with.  Live rattlesnakes, red headed girls with crazy eyes and trying to cover Gram Parsons, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers come to mind.  Not only does The New Soft Shoe pull it off they also do it with respect and true homage to the man himself.  We aren't talking greatest hits material here.  We are talking about the entire Gram Parsons library.  They don't just do it well these guys absolutely 100% nail it.  I did my homework this time folks.  The band consists of Brent Kirby on guitar and vocals, Al Moss on Pedal Steel from Hillbilly Idol, Jon Niefeld on drums from such bands as The Rembrandts (yeah the Friends theme folks), Tom Prebish on bass from Bar Flies and Boys From County Hell, and Andy Leach who is somewhat of a mystery man band history-wise.  Put them together in one group and you have one hel of a line up.  Throw in one other cat named Adam Constantine on Keys and this is also the line up for the Shapeshifters.

It is always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a band.  It's even better to be surprised twice by virtually the same band.  When I heard solo release I just thought like a solo set, a guy and his guitar.  I knew nothing of this Shapeshifter business.  So since these two shows happened back to back last week rather than focus in on the tribute show which you honestly have to see to believe I think the Last Song on the Soundtrack release show is what you need to know about.  First off, the CD itself is amazing, go buy one.  It is not just full of twangy pop songs either.  It's the kind of shit you see VH1 Storytellers.  Songs with meaning and purpose.  There are songs in here if it was 1989 that I would put on girls mix tapes to try to win the affection of a young lady.  What do I liken it to in this decade that the kids would understand?  Pop songs with catchy hooks, incredible instrumentation and lyrics with actual soul.

The show itself was at a packed Happy Dog.  Imagine that, me at the Happy Dog?  The opener was Doug McKean, front man for The Boys From County Hell.  He did a great short set and is well worth checking him out beyond The Pogues Tribute he pulls off so well.  I think I actually pissed him off asking for a Pogues song but oh well.  I had to ask, he does Shane MacGowan better than Shane MacGowan does and all with nice teeth.  He sings and plays guitar solo singing some great roots style Americana songs.  He was joined on stage with Brent for a couple tracks and Sorca McGrath who hail from Dublin Ireland. Sorca had an incredible voice.  He was a great warm up for what was too come, and very talent songwriter himself.  

After seeing the New Soft Shoe the night before from a musician standpoint I knew what I was in for.  I however didn't expect what was delivered.  It was a flawless show.  The crowd was into it and the band was eating it up never missing a hook.  The band itself was incredibly talented.  I can't say there is one single standout performer at all.  Every single one of them added something to the mix in this ensemble.  I have never seen a Pedal Steel played live before and there is something eerily haunting about the sound of that instrument.  It is melodic and completely unmistakable in sound, and Al Moss played that thing well.  When it is singled out in the mix it takes you back to a 70's honky tonk listening to songs about trains, drinking and the girls that broke your heart.  It does not look like an easy instrument to master.  Just setting this thing up looked like putting a tent together with all of its stakes, pedals, parts and pieces.  It is an instrument that requires an intense about of focus and Al owned that thing all night.

Ok...Andy Leach ladies and gentlemen.  Holy shit.  To say he is animated playing his guitar is an understatement.  The way he plays his guitar makes you think quite possibly he was born with it in his hands.  His skills playing lead or rhythm make me wonder why in the world I have not seen more of him in the area.  He is really into playing.  It is like he hears every single note he hits.  There are times he gets into this trance like state playing this thing that I don't even know if he remembers that he is actually playing in a band.  You'll catch him smiling when he is on and it sounds good, and then there are times he plays that thing like he is taming some wild stallion breaking the notes into submission until they come out perfect.  When that happens he gets this quizzical look on his face that says holy shit did I really make that noise come out of this thing?  It's as if his hands are somehow a part of the guitar, like some mad music scientist fused his hands to the thing to make these amazing sounds come out of his amp.  

The beats were kept going by Niefeld who never missed one.  He was on fire the entire night with this Charlie Watts-esque mellow thing going on.  Understated in the background, smiling yet serious he kept rocking his kit the entire night.  Tom Prebish himself has a great voice doing a lot of the back up duties as he manhandles his bass most of the night pounding out the grooves like it's nothing.  He had this smugness to his playing that said oh yeah, this thing?  I play a little...and play it well he does.  The only cat that wasn't with the Soft Shoe when I saw them was Adam Constantine.  He is a great keyboardist who was able go from honky tonk player to absolutely rocking the thing out on certain songs slapping those plastic ivories like he owned his corner of the stage.  There were a couple guest musicians up there with Chris Allen doing a couple songs on the guitar and Matt Charboneau on bass who plays on the CD release.

Kirby...I have said a lot about Brent in previews reviews.  He is a talented entertainer who is comfortable on the stage.  You can tell he is proud of the CD he put out, and he has every right to be.  He is an incredible Songwriter and it is proven in his live performance and on Last Song On the Soundtrack.  All the while being 100% professional on the stage he smiles and genuinely loves what he is doing up there.  His respect for the musicians he plays with on and off that stage is legendary in the area.  He respects those in the Cleveland music community from the bar owners, folks that book him to play and his fans.  Even I got a shout out at the show and to my surprised got a decent amount of applause.  I am still not completely comfortable with my D-list celebrity but honestly it is nice to be recognized by someone up there that is actually out there playing bars and clubs 4 or 5 nights a week at times.  

His artistry those last couple nights as a Frontman was spot on.  First off with The New Soft Shoe he can pull off Gram Parsons.  As a long time Parsons fan knowing this is as close I could ever get to hear Parsons music live and I was beyond impressed at his command over the vocals.  I never thought I would hear $1,000 Wedding ever done live or Ooh Las Vegas for that matter and done so well for that matter.  He can pretty much pull off anything in that Alt-Country vein of music as I have heard him do Son Volt, Tupelo and Wilco pretty damn good too.  His new solo record was the feature of the night though at The Happy Dog and it really is a great piece of work.  Well worthy picking up when you check him out next time he is playing in his many musical incarnations.  He is a Roots and Americana singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist that writes incredible songs that capture the heart and soul of life inside or outside of Cleveland.  These are road songs, love songs, and pop songs that run the gambit of emotion.  He is a storyteller with a guitar plain and simple.  

The CD is reminiscent of the blue collar Midwest.  It's pretty raw without sounding gritty, yet not overproduced at all.  There are the heartstrings tugging ballad-esque cuts like Somewhere Down the Line, honky tonk sounding cuts like Don't Cry For Me, and introspective catchy Dylan-esque pop tunes like Silently Stepping Out Surreal.  What it really boils down to is Kirby put out a blue collar working mans record that fans will enjoy, but will most likely never get into mainstream airwaves.  I am not saying it shouldn't, not at all and I am sure fame and fortune were not the driving force behind putting this out.  I am saying this is a pioneering record that can pave the ways from the rest of the folks in this Roots Americana Cleveland music scene to follow.  It just proves you can make a good straight forward rock and roll record these days without screaming vocals, and speed metal guitars.  While the band, and the instrumentation is great it's Brent Kirby as a true Midwest American balladeer that shines through on this release.  

There is this new focus in Cleveland on just writing songs these days.  It is artist like all these above mentioned that are changing the landscape of Cleveland Music.  It's the roots thing that has slowly been taking off over the last couple years.  You have everything out there these days from the balls out rock and roll from bands like the Hot Rails, Jack Fords to the rockabilly riots of Scoliosis Jones, Uncle Scratch, Whiskey Daredevils, to the new grass sounds of The Misery Jackals and Heelsplitter.  Even bluegrass is making head waves with bands like One Dollar Hat and The Hiram Rapids Stumblers.  Cleveland has a lot of offer in the realm of music.  It is a tight knit community of bars, clubs, bands and fans.  They all know each other and treat each other with respect, and help each other out.  It's actually a pretty cool scene to be a part of right now, and it was definitely a blast checking out those last couple of Kirby shows.