Little by Little, the Melody Trucks Band Has Become a Powerhouse Group
THIS! This! This is the performance I was waiting for from the Melody Trucks Band. This is the one I knew was brewing inside, waiting to explode everywhere.
We had the privilege of hearing the very first show by MTB at Great Outdoors Jam last September, and we heard them again a Hometeam New Year’s Rally and again at Orange Blossom Jamboree in May. However, it was Ms. Trucks’ sit-in with Miami powerhouse JUke that indicated that this volcano was about to blow:
We need a separate paragraph to talk about what was, for me and at least some others, THE moment(s) of OBJ. I compared notes with others who have had the pleasure of seeing the Melody Trucks Band and catching her sitting in on vocals at Wanee and elsewhere. She has a fine voice, always just a little contained. This version of “Little by Little” was something entirely different. From the moment she stepped up to the mic, she let it ALL go. She soared. She was spectacular. Please, Ms. Trucks. Do this again. And again. And again. WOW!
Well, she did. The band did, too. And, for those in attendance at Skipper’s Smokehouse on Saturday, June 23rd, I think you’d agree that it was Shane Platten night. More on that in a moment.
The evening began with an hour-and-a-half set from The Allman Goldflies Band. This band trades on the name Allman, as in Gary Allman, as in cousin of Duane and Gregg. The trio of musicians playing with him was excellent. Allman this evening was not. Let’s be charitable — Wayne Tagle of In the Groove, the jamband show on WMNF, assures me they saw three great sets from this band not long ago.
Allman had a very off night. He used only his left hand on the keyboard, and that certainly also affected his acoustic guitar playing on several numbers. And his voice had little range, although the emotion was there. Interestingly, they began with “The Star-Spangled Banner;” I observed that only a few of us stood. They segued right into “One Way Out” and then another rocker before tackling “Dreams.”
Guitarist Joe Weiss sounded great on every song of the set, sometimes on slide. Meanwhile, Shawn “Shack” Shackelford was driving the set from his drum kit in lock step with David Goldflies on bass, the real focus of the band. Goldflies took over vocals on the stomping “Cold Hard Day,” and then Weiss joined him singing “I Got the Blues Today.” “Standing in the Georgia Rain” is probably a poignant song, but it was painful in this setting with Allman’s voice bare, accompanied by the acoustic guitar. The band recovered in great style with “Rollin’ Down the Highway,” Weiss’s best effort of the night.
There was a quick switcheroo as Weiss took the bass and Goldflies grabbed his fiddle for three truly inspired Celtic-vibe tunes, including one called “Piddle.” The boys returned to standard instrumentation for the last couple of tunes, including “Melissa.”
Melody Trucks and company hit the stage promptly at 10 PM, and from the very first minute it was clear there would be nothing reserved about this set as they hurtled headlong into “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” Trucks’ voice soaring. Also of note: it took slide guitarist West Brook three minutes to break a string — and even less time to get a new string on! [Note: guitarist and singer Willis Gore also plays with Bonnie Blue and had a BB gig this evening.]
They paid homage to fellow Jacksonvillians JJ Grey and Mofro with a great cover of “Ho Cake,” sung by Isaac Corbitt, who is still, in my estimation, THE premier harmonica player on the scene. Brady Clampitt soloed first on guitar, then Brook on slide, followed by Platten on bass. Then Corbitt on harmonica and drummer Shaun Taunton locked horns.
If there was any doubt about the depth and breadth of this band, it dissolved the very instant they slammed into the aforementioned “Little by Little,” the Junior Wells composition so closely associated now with Ms. Susan Tedeschi. This song is driven by the bouncing bass line, and Platten tore this one UP! And Ms. Trucks let it ALL go — again. Solos all around.
Clampitt then sang “It’s a Personal Thing” before Trucks asked us about Frogwings, a band Butch Trucks also played in, then saying, “This one goes up for my dad” as they began “Pattern.” This was one the of the powerful songs of the set, especially when Platten and Taunton kicked out the jams. Next Trucks sang a band original written by Corbitt and Clampitt called “Live Your Life” with the refrain “I’m not here for a long time; I’m just here for a good time.” All the gents except Taunton were singing backup — absolutely perfect.
West Brook sang “Put It on Me.” Then it was Platten’s turn with a killer bass intro to “Jellyfish” and his strong singing. Brook was back to sing “Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong with That,” playing more nasty slide guitar. Clampitt took over Allman’s keyboard and played electric piano while singing “Blind, Crippled and Crazy.” Clampitt soloed, then Platten, then Brook (not slide).
Interesting note: most players have some sort of favorite melody or refrain they like to work into solos. Isaac Corbitt’s favorite is “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt suite. He often works it in several times during a set. But he had a bunch of other great solos this night, and it took an hour for that theme to emerge.
“We have to play at least ONE Allman Brothers song,” Trucks said, and they gave us a fine version of “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’,” Clampitt still on electric piano and Brook soloing. The other true highlight of the set occurred next, as Platten gave us a killer bass intro to “Use Me.” He sang this, with Brook and Clampitt (guitar) soloing. And then. Platten did that thing — there must be a technical term — where he was scatting on top of his bass line. It was spectacular.
Things settled down a bit as Trucks told us about another song she wrote for her dad: “Freight Train.” Finally, Trucks called up two members of The Bird Tribe, a Nokomis band that tore it up at OBJ: Garrett Dawson on congas and Matthew Frost on keyboards. And she said that this song was for another great man we lost last year, and “This is why I am weird” with “Yield Not to Temptation” in homage to the late Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.). Of course Platten blew this one up as well.
They took a break to get set up with all four members of Allman Goldflies for a great jam, starting the party with “Southbound.”
We’re certainly looking forward to an album from the Melody Trucks Band, but ultimately you need to see up close and personal. Speaking of that, MTB and Bonnie Blue play the unofficial Tedeschi Trucks Band afterparty this Friday, June 29th, at 1904 Music Hall in Jacksonville.
Yet another shout-out to the sound engineer at Skipper’s Smokehouse for perfect sound both sets and set-break music at levels where people could hold conversations. Nailed it once again! BRAVO!
[MTB: You Haven’t Done Nothing, Ho Cake, Little by Little, Personal Thing, Pattern, Live Your Life, Put It on Me, Jellyfish, Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong with That, Blind Crippled and Crazy, Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, Use Me, Freight Train, Yield Not to Temptation; JAM: Southbound]
