Freak Scene #41: JJ Slater Opens Doors on 'The Silver Key'
Plus, Montague's Jax Hollow is making it happen in Nashville.
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, JJ Slater takes us on a journey with The Silver Key, Nashville-via-Montague singer Jax Hollow is about to release a new album, and there’s a whole lot of upcoming concert listings for the Parlor Room.
Heading west on a journey of self-discovery is an integral part of the American mythos, from Laura Ingalls Wilder to Jack Kerouac to Mad Men. The first thing JJ Slater discovered when he undertook his own journey a few years ago is that radiators are expensive, after a collision with a deer east of Cleveland busted up his car and left him stranded in Ohio for four days.
When he finally arrived at his destination — Taos, N.M., where he had planned to settle in for a three-month artist residency at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation — credit complications from paying for car repairs meant Slater had to take a gig pruning juniper trees for cash, rather than devoting all his time to writing new music. Eventually, though, the songs started to come, and when Slater returned to Western Mass., he recorded The Silver Key. It’s the album-length story of a young person who leaves home and heads to Salida, Colo., a little mountain town a few hours southwest of Denver, checks into a local motel and undergoes a creative awakening.
Slater says the story takes place at some point in the past 15 years, though the musical reference points evoke that distinctive ’70s confluence of rock, folk and an amalgam of blues, funk and country. There’s a warm analog feel throughout, and Slater has a fondness for choogling guitars and soft-spoken vocals — he often sings in a murmur, and even when he projects his voice, it’s smooth and unforced. Slater is also a wizard with the groove: each of the nine tracks on The Silver Key sits deep in a pocket: bippity-bap drums and slinky guitar on “Bye (Forever),” for example, or the swift, understated shuffle and acoustic guitar of “One More Ride.”
As the (loose) narrative progresses, the musical mood changes, too, from the hazy, high-desert psychedelia of the opener, “In the Cool Salida Breeze” (my one quibble, as a native Coloradan: Though the town is named for the Spanish word for “exit,” which sounds better in a song lyric, locals pronounce it “Sa-LYE-da”), to the oozing bassline on the speedy hard funk jam “Back to Life” to the slide guitar riot that closes out “Home (Enough)” — and those are just the first three tracks. Though each song has a distinctive vibe, they’re unmistakably of a piece, and they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Slater’s album is an anachronism, in that it seems to belong to another time, and not just in terms of its musical touchstones. The Silver Key feels like a fantasia, set in a West that doesn’t really exist anymore — if it ever did at all. Either way, this version is the product of Slater’s fertile imagination, and he shows how easily this particular key opens doors.
Slater’s project with Lexi Weege, Signature Dish performs tonight, Friday, at the Parlor Room (tickets).
Jax Hollow Finds Her Feet in Nashville
Montague native Jax Hollow isn’t the first musician from Western Massachusetts to follow her muse to a bigger community. She is, however, the only one to land a gig opening for Melissa Etheridge at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville — and to have the headliner gush about how good she was. That’s not a bad line on the ol’ resumé.
The Ryman gig came in the wake of Hollow’s first album, last year’s Only the Wild Ones. She’s kept busy recently with new singles: the soulful slow burner “Don’t Call Me Baby” came out in August, followed by the lilting folk-country tune “Fallout” in September. Both songs are from her second album, Come Up Kid, for which her website lists the rather vague release date of “late November/early December.” You could scour the web for more information, like I just did, or simply enjoy the singles right here.
Upcoming Concerts
Signature Sounds have outdone themselves with next year’s Back Porch Festival: Lucinda Williams headlines March 9, as part of a lineup that also includes (so far) the Travelin’ McCourys and the Sam Grisman Project March 8 and a songwriter night March 7 paying tribute to the music of Neil Young. VIP tickets are here, with general-admission “Ramble” passes going on sale Dec. 4.
Outro perform with Slant of Light and Ex-Temper Dec. 20 at the Drake in Amherst (tickets).
Jose Gonzalez & La Banda Criolla come to the Marigold Theater in Easthampton Nov. 30 for their Puerto Rican Parranda Christmas Show (tickets). TapRoots and Mal Maïz are there Dec. 13 (tickets).
Say Darling play the Parlor Room Nov. 30 (tickets). Christa Joy & the Honeybees are there Dec. 5 (tickets). Garnet Rogers performs Dec. 7 (tickets). Low Lily play Dec. 12 (tickets). Chris Pureka stops in Dec. 18 (tickets). Guitarist Eric Johanson (not the “Cliffs of Dover” guy) performs Dec. 20 (tickets). The Nields Holiday Show happens Dec. 21 (tickets). The Members Discovery Series presents Chrysalis Dec. 22 (tickets). Jake Manzi is there Dec. 27 (tickets).
In the new year, Keith Murphy & the Band of Amber play the Parlor Room Jan. 10 (tickets). Joe K. Walsh and Matt Flinner are there Jan. 11 (tickets). Emily Bloom and Sweet Petunia perform Jan. 17 (tickets). Lisa Bastoni and Helen Hummel share the bill Jan. 19 (tickets). The New Rockwells are there Jan. 25 (tickets). Dan Bern performs Jan. 29 (the Parlor Room’s ticket link didn’t work). Aleksi Campagne and Kaiti Jones are there Jan. 31 (tickets). King Kyote plays Feb. 2 (tickets). Eli West stops in Feb. 7 (tickets). Madeleine Roger is there Feb. 12 (tickets). Guy Davis performs Feb. 12 (tickets). Jennifer Knapp and Flamy Grant are there Feb. 15 (tickets). Tim Eriksen plays Feb. 16 (tickets). Crys Matthews is there Feb. 23 (tickets). The Dirty Grass Players headline March 14 (tickets). Andy Stochansky performs March 28 (tickets). Philadelphia’s Mutlu is there March 30 (tickets). Showman and Coole perform there April 4 (tickets). David Wilcox plays April 26 (tickets). John Gorka is there May 15 (tickets). Boston trio the Wolff Sisters are back May 22 (tickets). Susan Werner is there June 7 (tickets).
Enter the Haggis play what is billed as their final Northampton show March 12 at the Iron Horse (tickets). The Weather Station are there March 30 (tickets). EXTC (Terry Chambers, formerly of XTC) is scheduled for April 15 (tickets). Vieux Farka Touré performs April 22 (tickets).
Shemekia Copeland plays Jan. 17 at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford (tickets).
Slowdive come to MassMoCA Jan. 31 (tickets), and to College Street Music Hall in New Haven Feb. 4 (tickets). Dave Guy is there Feb. 28 (tickets). Angélica Garcia, who released the excellent album Gemelo this year, performs March 22 (tickets). Folk rabblerouser Ani DiFranco is there April 25 (tickets).
College Street Music Hall also hosts Howard Jones & ABC Feb. 26 (tickets).
Meanwhile, District Music Hall in Norwalk brings in Tycho Jan. 17 (tickets), and the Space Ballroom hosts Willow Avalon Feb. 18 (tickets), Missio March 8 (tickets) and Horsegirl March 26 (tickets).
Next week: Northampton’s LuxDeluxe are back, and better than ever.
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