Bitter, Drunk, and Cold-er: Extended Play Sessions, Norwood Mass
Artist: The Far West
steven wallace
Posted On March 27, 2015
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Out in Norwood, Massachusetts, tucked behind an auto body shop and the usual industrial park suspects is a little gem of a venue that’s the home of Bill Hurley’s Extended Play Sessions (more on that later), and Monday, March 23rd, it was home to the LA Americana/roots/country/western/just plain sh*t-kickin’ music band The Far West.
For those “not in the know”, TFW came together in early 2010, each member having left other bands to pursue a unique sound they weren’t getting elsewhere. Singer Lee Briante posted a late night craigslist ad that consisted of nothing more then the text ‘looking to do something like this’. and a Waylon Jennings video. Texas born Robert Black responded within minutes and The Far West was born. Chicago native Aaron Bakker soon joined the band bringing his exceptional guitar playing to the lineup. With Michael Whiteside on piano & keys and Brian Bachman on drums, the line up was solidified. (Thanks to TFW WebSite http://www.thefarwestband.com)
They’ve been poking across the East Coast of these here US of A’s for the past few weeks and just recently played as the opening act for The Alvin Brothers over the weekend previous in Boston.
Now, the Extended Play Sessions venue is an odd little set up that seats about 35 folks and if you’re going there expecting the usual concert experience, you’re in for a mild awakening…it’s a TV show and the crowd is sort of a third wheel to the Band/Film crew tandem and though that may be the reality of the situation, they’re never made to feel left out in the process and TFW made sure of that by putting on a hot show during a cold cold east coast night.
They were in fine form , interacting with the crowd and crew, while ripping through some of the best of their catalog including, “Bitter Drunk & Cold” (extremely apt for the weather and festivities), “Maricopa City Limits”, “Bright Side” Townes Van Zandt’s “ “White Freightliner”” a Merle Haggard Cover and a few others.
There were a few sound issues and a few stops and starts (guitarist Aaron Bakker went so far as to request a second run through of his extremely hot guitar solo on one song) but the crowd and band were into it and the boys seemed a little less nervous about being filmed about 1/2 way through an abbreviated show (Bill Hurley gathers enough footage to carve down to 20 minutes or so with time left over for an interview portion) and the last 1/2 of the evening was devoted to a chat session with the band members….and their personalities really came through well during that time……it’s obvious these guys get along well from the interplay between them and the constant eye contact they make with each other while playing.
Chalk up another great evening at EPS and a great night from a talented group of guys that will please fans of bands that mine the Americana vein of gold.
