Wayne "The Train" Hancock @ The Beachland Tavern

When Wayne "The Train" Hancock comes to town you know you are in for a great show.  Not only a great show but a really long one at that.  Wayne rolled into town last night to The Beachland Tavern.  As much as I could try to muster folks to come up to the show I didn't get much buy in.  Kind of like the whole polka DJ Kishka thing at the Happy Dog or some raspy voiced singer named Ryan Bingham who just won an Academy Award with some guy name T-Bone Burnett for a song from Crazy Heart.  If you don't get it, you either never will or you are going to catch on too late.  One thing I truly do appreciate about the Beachland is their support from artists like Wayne Hancock.  They have such an eclectic mix of music that plays the tavern and ballroom sides.  For as big of a country town as Cleveland is (I think WGAR is always up there in the ratings or at least they used to be) they sure as hell don't have many "country" shows outside the the major label acts that come to Blossom.  The Beachland has tons of Alt & Outlaw country artists coming in the next few months.  By tons I mean Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Blackberry Smoke, Old 97's, The Sadies, The Waco Brothers and countless others.  They also really look out for local artists in that genre with the multi-band Barn Dances and throwing bands like The Not So Good Old Boys, Heelsplitter, and Misery Jackals, an opening spot when they can.  

So Wayne the who?  Wayne is old time country.  He makes no bones about his feelings on some of the stuff that passes for country music these days.  Call him a throwback or whatever you want but the guy has the soul of Hank Williams in his voice.  He is the kind of guy that could write a song in a matter of minutes, and the songs he writes you would think they came from the early days of Sun Records.  He takes the best of the swing days of country throws in a little Hank Williams, mixes in a little surf guitar and the lyrical prowess of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash.  He is a gifted and talented songwriter to say the least.  

He rolled into town as a three piece and played well over 2 hours of nonstop originals, country classics and standards.  His backing band consisted of Shane Kiel on the upright bass and Matt Thomas on the electric guitar.  Shane Kiel comes from The Two Timin' Four and is no stranger to the Hancock's music.  He plays the bass like an old pro and could go toe to toe with Lee Rocker in skills and tattoos.  Thomas is a Austin native and his guitar chops are amazing.  His guitar sound is unique being a combo of surf-Hawaiian, country and juke joint jive.  There was a point when a piece of the guys guitar fell off. Sure obviously nothing too important as he continued playing.  Not only didn't he miss a lick, he didn't even notice until Wayne pointed it out to him as it lay on the floor of the stage.  Both are incredibly talented players and you can tell they love sharing the stage with Wayne.  

The banter between songs was comical, the songs sounded incredible and the packed in crowd loved every minute of it.  The sound was dead on and the audience was respectful throughout despite the NASCAR look of them.  They were hardy drinkers that's for sure and honestly a very diverse crowd of real hardcore Hancock fans.  I tend to get creeped out when I am out of my element however I have come to learn I no longer have an element.  It is just a great thing to see real fans coming out to see a true roots country show.  The next time Mr. Train comes rolling into town you really should hit it up.  You won't be disappointed at all if you truly love the roots of country music.  Hell even if all you know is that ass clown Toby Keith or think Carrie Underwood is real country you would enjoy seeing this cat live.  He is a yodelin', guitar strummin', country croonin' real McCoy.