Kid Rock may be OK with throwing a show in the middle of the biggest snow storm Arkansas has seen in years, but your neighbors here at the Times didn’t like the possibility of The Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, that really fun thing they do every year, becoming The Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, that thing where everyone who tried to go last year wrapped their cars around light poles and broke their arms.
So, to err on the side of caution, we moved last week’s round, featuring Brethren, Michael Leonard Witham, The Pink Drapes and This Holy House, to Thursday, March 3, at Stickyz. It’s the night before our final round at Revolution, so consider it a pre-game for the wild night to follow.
In the meantime, the showcase goes on. This week, we’re offering up yet another killer lineup from four local acts.
Round three, 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, Stickyz.
10 Horse Johnson. After winning over “A Playboy Home Companion” on Sirius Playboy Radio and making its Little Rock debut last April at a fund-raiser for Conway School Board also-ran Dwight David Honeycutt, the LR/LA-based 10 Horse Johnson has continued skewing classic country and western and lampooning the 21st century with songs like “That’s the Prozac Talking” and “Lord Please Make My Daddy Burt Reynolds.”
Think: “Tenacious D on white lightnin’ moonshine,” fans say. I’m inclined to agree.
Sea Nanners. Formerly Reptar, the guys of Sea Nanners have made a big reputation for themselves despite a precious few live shows under their belt. Jittery, driving and drenched in reverb, the new kids in town manage to straddle a strange line between the Americana of Bruce Springsteen and the melodicism of Canadian collective Broken Social Scene. Look out for their “Queen of the Brodeo” 7-inch soon.
Think: What would happen if someone put your dad’s records and your cool friend’s iPod in a musical centrifuge.
Brown Soul Shoes. Mainstays on pub stages around town, Brown Soul Shoes has made a name (not to mention formed a local following) for itself covering soul greats from Stevie Wonder to Hall & Oates with signature hyped-up energy. Thursday’s show, however, will highlight a set of original Delta blues and Memphis soul sounds from the good-times four-piece.
Think:
Wailing guitars, wailing vocals, wailing on the drums, all smoothly.
Ezra Lbs. It takes guts to take a sweet, swaying ode to grade school crushes and name it “Spaceshit.” Then again, naming your band Ezra Lbs is a bold move, too. Taking melody and mood from college radio patriarchs Yo La Tengo and a cool, slacker rock posture from any number of early ’90s indie rockers, the band may be young, but its spirit is pure “cool older brother.”
Think: Finding a well loved, tattered demo cassette in the ’96 Accord you bought from your cool college professor.