You know how I said that I had hundreds of posts and topics that had gone through my head, yet never made it to the computer? Well, the subject of this post was one that came to my attention this summer, at Forecastle Fest. I knew they had something special, even though our listening circumstances were somewhat questionable. And I wanted to tell you all, but I didn’t. But, I am now. And you can make that short 77 mile drive to Lexington to see them Saturday night at Buster’s. They are opening for a band on the move from Louisville, Houndmouth (a little more on them in a bit).
Okay…droll roll please…it’s The Wheeler Brothers. Hubby and I accidentally discovered them while in a lapse from reality. Okay, it may have been MY lapse and hubby was kind enough to go along for the ride. See, for the second year in a row, we have had to fit Forecastle in between one of our son’s baseball tournaments. It makes for an ‘interesting’ weekend of dashing here and there. And by interesting, I mean that the reality of our lives smacks us in our faces and we realize that we must miss some not-to-be-missed bands to support our son and his team. And we would not have it any other way (luckily, there was no conflict between The Avett Brothers set and baseball!). One of these bands, was Houndmouth, but I had a solution to that problem.
side note: Pleasetellmeyou’velistenedtoHoundmouth. They are from the Louisville area. Okay, they are actually from just across the river in New Albany, IN, but they hang out in Louisville all the time, so we get to claim them as our own. And they have pretty much exploded – with good reason! I could write a whole post on them, but I am banking on the fact that you’ve at least heard them on WFPK. And I should also plug their after Thanksgiving shows at Headliners – Friday Nov 29th and Sat Nov 30th. I believe that Saturday show is already sold out, so don’t wait to get your Friday tickets! Here is a little taste (they ROCK OUT live!):
Back to The Wheeler Bros….so, Houndmouth was playing this awesome late night show on The Belle of Louisville, as part of the Forecastle festivities. I knew we wouldn’t be playing baseball after midnight (when the Belle started), so I, very smartly, got us tickets. Woohoo…it’s a win-win solution! Y’all can laugh at me now. You can probably see where this is going. Ah, hindsight. Anyway, we made it to the Belle, after midnight, to hear the first of two opening bands. I started getting a little worried as the night just kept getting longer. Not to mention the fact that the Belle gets a little claustrophobic when it is filled with very young people who had been enjoying themselves all day. We should have probably cut our loses right then and there. But, we were already in….what was a few more hours?! So, we stuck it out. Opener one, done. Opener two….who are these guys? They were actually good enough to pull my mind away from the crazy reality of the situation and focus on the music. They were incredible. And just like that, The Wheeler Brothers, became a family favorite and a regular in our musical rotation. They put everything they had into their set. And I love bands like that, if you haven’t noticed. They may have a sound that is more common these days, but I gotta tell ya, they have something more. Give their newest album, Gold Boots Glitter, a listen and you will know what I mean. They get you dancing and pushing repeat. There are so many songs that I want to feature…it is a hard, hard choice, but I gotta go with the one that really spoke to me that late night on the Belle.
Let me finish that Belle story….we persevered and walked into our house around 4am (thank goodness for kick ass babysitters!!!). But the rest of the story is that we had to be up by 6am for round 3 of baseball. Being who I am, I couldn’t actually fall asleep, for fear that we would miss the alarm. So, an all-nighter it was. It has been quite a few years since that had happened, and even then, it was probably for a teething baby. But, I’ll admit that I felt like I had cheated life. You know the saying, “there aren’t enough hours in the day”, well, I figured it out! You just can’t sleep. Then, you can do it all. Not sure if that is a good long term solution, but it worked that weekend. And so, when I heard The Wheeler Brothers sing, Sleep When I’m Dead... yeah, it kinda fit!! But my other favs are My Time and Straight and Steady.
You have to listen to this one, too. I can also relate to the early line that says “I was feeling slow from the night before, but I stood straight and steady…”
I am not that eloquent about telling you the ins and outs of why I like a band….it’s more of a feeling. And the feeling I get from The Wheeler Brothers is an energetic happiness. And that is why you should check them out. If you are headed to Lexington this weekend, let me know!! Can’t wait. But looking forward to hearing them play before 2am.
last bit of sanity 