Ladies & Gentlemen, I Present...Ladies & Gentlemen

(from August 3, 2009)

(Does that say "Julia Jackson" or "Jennifer Aniston"? Or maybe "Juvenile Diabetes"?)

I bet it's hard to make it big in folk music. Mostly because hippies don't really have money, but also because most public places at least prefer (if not require) you to wear shoes of some kind.

Honestly, I kind of felt like I had been transported back to some sort of hippie commune in the 1960s, and judging from the footwear of certain band members (or lack thereof), I may not be too far off.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Sunday night at theCanvas (yes, that's how it's spelled...for some reason), the band Ladies & Gentlemen played a little show for a good-sized group of us in San Marcos. The six-member hippie...er...folk...band consists of two vocalists (one of whom plays the steel guitar), a keyboard player, a bass/banjo player, an electric guitarist, and a drummer. I only know the keyboard player, Julia Rainbow Waterfall Jackson (see above photo of autographed forearm), so I'll just make up names for the rest: Stevey McBeardo (lead singer/steel guitar), Daisy Unicorn Flowerchild (female vocals), Long John Quickfingers (electric guitar), Ishmael Kind-Of-Looks-Like-Ben-Folds (bass), and Bob (drums). I especially like the McBeardo/Flowerchild vocal combo; they trade off the lead on different songs, and sound quite nice together as well.

Overall, the songs are unique and memorable, mostly because of the catchy melodies. It's always hard to hear the lyrics in a coffee shop show, so I'm not going to even try to name any of the songs. But, having seen them play a few months ago, I remembered the majority of the songs from the melody and was proud of that fact.

They started the set with an a'capella version of an old "negro spiritual" (to quote Julia R.W. Jackson) that is probably called "I'm Troubled" if I heard the words correctly. Come to think of it, I can't imagine too many "negro spirituals" that aren't a'capella. Not like there were instruments handy or anything. Unless they did that mop-and-bucket bass trick. That's just cool.

Anyway, they went on to play a handful of songs that varied in tempo, meter, and volume, all of which fit into the folk genre, but weren't boring or predictable. I especially enjoyed the solid bass lines and the talented playing of Long John Quickfingers. The slow songs were rock solid as well, as Miss Jackson tickled the ivories with impressive skill -- when the piano was actually audible over the rest of the music, anyway. Oh, and she played the accordion for the first non-a'capella song, which was just fun. Ishmael also played the banjo on that tune, while Bob played bass and did some work with his feet on the kick drum and hi-hat.

All told, I came away impressed with the skill and polish of a band that looks like such...well...hippies, which aren't usually known for their practice ethic or their ability to interact with electricity. It still felt like a jam session in some tiny San Francisco bar circa 1962, and the complex simplicity made the band fun, eclectic, and technically sound.

You don't often hear that kind of quality in a random coffee shop on a Sunday night, but when you do...

...you try your best not to make jokes about hugging trees.