Thu 1/23 @ 8PM
It seems like everywhere you turn, there’s another great alt country/roots rock band you don’t know but feel like you should have. There’s something about the genre that attracts gifted songwriters, talented musicians, and singers with the ability to touch your heart.
Two such acts are sharing a bill at the Beachland Tavern.
The Honeycutters, out of Asheville, North Carolina, have been quietly building a grassroots reputation since 2007. They center on the songs and singing of Amanda Anne Platt — another interesting thing is how many women gravitate to this style — who isn’t given to vocal flash, but every note, every word strikes just the right amount of feeling.
Like many of the best Americana/roots singers, Platt draws from early country artists like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline who also didn’t mess around with American Idol-style applause-seeking tricks, but wanted to reach your heart. While maintaining the connection to country with pedal steel and mandolin, the quintet also draws on blue-collar rockers like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.
The Honeycutters will share the bill with Lorain County’s Rachel Brown & the Beatnike Playboys. Brown’s country-biased roots music features strains of honky-tonk and western swing, as well as classic rock and jazz. Her range, her expressive voice, which mixes girlish sweetness and grownup savvy in delicate balance, and her vivid, fluid songwriting make her 2012 CD Just Look My Way well worth seeking out.
Her band, the Beatnik Playboys, features a group of the area’s most seasoned and versatile musicians — guitarist Dave Huddleston, drummer Roy King, and bassist Bill Watson — who are the equal of those in many more high-profile Americana acts.
Tickets are $10. This will be a primarily seated show, because you are going to want to listen to these bands’ wonderful songs and to their leading ladies’ beautiful vocals.
Cleveland, OH 44110