Perfect Doubleheader: Kimi Tortuga & Friends and Boxcar Hollow
You’ve got to love it when a night out to hear music turns into a doubleheader. I was heading to The Ringside Cafe in St. Petersburg to catch a special one-off show with singer/songwriter Kimi Tortuga with a superb set of musicians when I found that there was another great showing happening right around the corner at The Mandarin Hide with Boxcar Hollow Trio. SCORE!
I was there for Tortuga, but it was great catching the beginning of Boxcar Hollow’s sets. Normally they play as a quartet, but space and acoustics make having a drummer there impractical. Guitarist Matt Weis used his looping software to provide enough percussion for the band to ride atop.
What spilled out first was newgrass as magnificent and powerful as it gets. Weis plays a fine guitar, but even he would confess that he is playing two of the best players in the state. Jack Pieroth brought his double bass, and it would be fine with me if I never saw his bass guitar again; he was that spectacular, and the sound inside the bar, despite the noise from patrons, was incredible.
The other guy? That would be Chris Barbosa, whose viola playing is simply astounding.They were tearing up this newgrass thing that was a match for the best Dave Grisman vibe when Weis began singing, more like rapping, I guess. Turns out it was The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage!”
From there, they brought it down a notch for some beautiful Americana with “Fill Your Heart,” followed by an great instrumental vamp that turned into a Johnny Cash-like “I’m On Fire.”
Time to head to The Ringside for Miss Kimi Tortuga.
The trio she had put together for this special night involved three of Tampa’s very best musicians. Justino Lee Walker (JOOSE, The Hip Abduction, Justino and the Difference) played guitar. Juan Santana, who plays bass with Justino and the Difference, was there, as was Yral ‘datdudeondrums’ Morris (Come Back Alice, JOOSE). Heavy hitters all. Due to some technical issues with her keyboard, Tortuga played the first set on guitar; she usually splits her sets between them.
Both sets featured her originals and a wide-ranging set of covers. She opened with “Inside the Arc,” the first tune on her new EP, and several songs later also played the second track, “Homo Sapiens,” with killer bass from Santana. In between, she chose “Your Love” and “Valerie.” Justino provided outstanding backing and harmony vocals throughout the two sets.
“Don’t Stop Believin’” was perhaps the most successful of the covers, with superb vocals from Tortuga and Justino perfect on that guitar obbligato. Tortuga offered the first of two Nina Simone tributes, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” It was a funky take, almost country in style — outlaw country, perhaps.
And the cover of “I Shot the Sheriff” was fun. Interestingly, it was offered on the same day in 1974 that Eric Clapton released 461 Ocean Boulevard. Most people learned about that song from him before they ever heard Bob Marley’s original — or of Bob Marley.
If there was any one thing you noticed on stage, it was the enormous grins on all four faces. They were having a ball making all of this come together. And Tortuga’s smile is a lighthouse!
At break, I headed back for more Boxcar Hollow. They opened with a really nice song before a fun take on “Friend of the Devil.” Then the trio played a powerful instrumental that improbably bounced into a rollicking “Folsom Prison Blues.” And back to the Ringside.
The second set saw Tortuga and crew work through songs by Tina Turner, Macy Gray, Bob Marley, Cee Lo Green, Bill Withers, and even Jane’s Addiction (“Jane Says”). Once again, each member of the band stepped up. Morris provided the awesome backbeat for each genre, and Tortuga moved back and forth from guitar to keyboard (thanks to Justino obtaining the necessary cables).
The second Nina Simone feature was “Feelin’ Good,” and it was gorgeous. “Crazy” was excellent, and the band absolutely threw down on “Rolling in the Deep,” Justino and Morris blowing this one up. Two originals were included, “For You” on keyboard before Santana’s space bass introduced “Fuck You” (also on the EP) with another killer guitar solo from Justino (actually, that applies to almost every song).
To close the set, they played the traditional “House of the Rising Sun.” Santana and Justino were superb as they took the song down to a whisper before a powerhouse ending. Then Tortuga turned the trio loose for a monster fusion tune. When it was over, Justino asked, “Does anybody know what that song was?”
I hollered, “I do,” to which he answered, “Other than Hopkins!” He then explained that it was the fourth track on Stevie Wonder’s landmark LP Song in the Key of Life.
We hustled up to the Mandarin Hide but just missed the short third set, then jetted up to Ruby’s Elixir around the corner to catch the jazz going down, but they had just stopped for a long break. Can’t stretch it into a triple? I’ll take a double — every time!
[BOXCAR ONE: Sabotage, Fill Your Heart, I’m On Fire, … ; TWO: ?, Friend of the Devil, ?, awesome Instrumental > Folsom Prison Blues, …]
[KIMI ONE: Inside the Arc, Your Love, Valerie, Homo Sapiens, won’t somebody ?, Don’t Stop Believin’, Little Piece of My Heart, I Shot the Sheriff, funky ?, Snow (Hey-O), Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Freefallin’; TWO: Proud Mary, I Try, ?? strong guitar, Feelin’ Good, Get Up Stand Up, Crazy, Zombie, Lean On Me, Rolling in the Deep, Jane Says, For You, Fuck You, House of the Rising Sun, Contusion]
Boxcar Hollow photograph courtesy of Matt Weis
Kimi Tortuga & Friends photographs courtesy of Leah Ogren
