Something to blog about: Bud Carroll @ the Empty Glass
I don’t need to tell readers of this blog that sometimes even the best laid plans can go astray whenst put into practice. Case in point: I was all set to go to Sam’s Friday night to see Joe Prichard and his JPB. Featuring Billy Matheny and the members of his Frustrations AKA American Sound Syndicate, the JPB was set to do a couple of shows there over the weekend. With Jessica having gone to see George Strait with a friend, I was totally set to crash Sam’s for the first time for the Gazz.
The original plan had been to go to Capitol Street Saturday night to see Prichard, and also swing by the Parrot to see Dog Soldier and Shorthrow. Highest on the agenda for Friday was to catch Bud Carroll and his Southern Souls at the Empty Glass in Charleston.
I got off work, got the camera from Jessica and went to the mall to see the tidal current of cowboy fashion as it snakes its way in the direction of the Civic Center to see George Strait. I was then on my way to Sam’s to see my man Billy Matheny.
So, I get to Sam’s and I honestly hadn’t been in there forever — I didn’t really know it had been cut in half in the downstairs. The upstairs is cool, and in the summer the deck balcony offers a birds-eye view of Capitol Street, the coolest spot in town. Like a rock and roll pope — you could actually direct a party like something out of Hotlanta off that thing.
I really told myself I wasn’t going to drink anything and was going to just check out the band. After about five minutes of sitting up there talking to nobody and nobody in the place that I knew, I decided to jettison and go to the Blue Parrot right down the street. My plans were scuttled for now.
I ran into Eamon Hardiman at the Parrot and he’s all like “Let me buy you a drink.” And, you know, it would be impolite to refuse, and so I was able to see my anonymous supporter J. Cuervo.
Scheduled to play at the Parrot this night were Blackdamp and DeadFaceDown, a reincarnation of Charleston’s RasClaat. I had talked to Blackdamp’s Jason Adkins before, and was not necessarily averse to the metal, but at this point it was just us in there; Eamon, a friend of his, Mick from Rose City, and later on — a special appearance by Bobby Balboa and Guy Parker! Those guys are good times; Parker said his band Rubber Soul pretty much packed the LaBelle Theater recently, and we talked about specialty beers and the fascist dictatorship of the state of West Virginia and how it won’t allow some of the most delicious drinks on earth — by law. Get Rich Ireland involved!
Coincidentally enough, right around the time the metal started we were on our way to see Bud Carroll at the Empty Glass! Eamon’s friend — whose name unfortunately escapes me — had suggested that he could take me to the Glass after me having mentioned the desire to go to see Carroll.
The dude lived right on Charleston’s historic East End, like right next to the Capitol basically. After a quick pit stop at the place, we strolled right over to the Glass in a few steps. It for whatever reason reminded me of being in a college town or something. It blew my mind walking to the Empty Glass for some reason.
Mark Bates and the Vacancies opened up the moderately populated Glass with soulful rock. Their guitarist was solid onstage, and with Bates on the piano/synth, the band rocked their set to the approval of the crowd. Aaron Fisher (of 101 fame) was on drums and it sounded like he is an engineer-slash-producer; the drums came through sounding good. Bates is an emotive singer with soaring vocals whose songs mainly seemed to be about chicks and relationships and he rocked on the piano and guitar. I was impressed, and Jessica definitely would’ve liked these guys.
You’ve read the words, now watch Mark Bates and the Vacancies!
Bud Carroll came up and rocked next. Saying he’s diminutive in stature is an understatement; he’s about five-five a buck ten or something, and with his hair and beard, looks like a young Charles Manson. But Carroll was only insane onstage.
I took turns going from the back of the bar (where my pitcher/base was) to the front, and finally moved up to the front. I had until now only heard what’s on Carroll’s Myspace page, and he did play probably my favorite song of his, “I Don’t Believe You,” which was cool to hear. Nice sing-along song, that is.
Coming out of the bathroom, I ran into Rod Lanham of Caustic Eye — always good to see him out. He’s my chief local music enabler, having hooked me up with copies of Jeff Ellis and Burt Reynolds CDs. He said that the new Maximum Headlessness CD “Songs to Sleep To” will be out soon, which is much expected. Caustic is putting it out, and we talked about Burt and the impossibility of a TBRDME-Maximum Headlessness show. Also ran into Roadblock for a minute, talked about Alex Skolnick and The Greens shows coming up at the Glass.
Around one in the am my head was beginning to feel like it was turning into a pumpkin, and it was time for my stagecoach to arrive. I was on my way out having had one of the most exciting nights I’ve had in recent months. Something to blog about.
