ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Yes, it’s disappointing that upcoming area shows by Vince Gill, Travis Tritt and Florida Georgia Line are sold out, but that gives you a chance to check out The Bros. Landreth, the hot new band I heard at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bros. Landreth — known individually as David Landreth, his brother Joey Landreth and longtime friends and bandmates Ariel Posen and Ryan “Rhino” Voth — is an on-the-verge Americana/alt-country band. Even after their local show in January, they have plenty of new songs to perform and are riding high after winning their first Juno Award last month, when “Let It Lie” took the coveted best roots and traditional album award.
“We’ve toured pretty extensively,” said David Landreth. “Sometimes it’s wild. Other times it’s mellow. It really changes from night to night, audience to audience.”
The group is well-suited to such changes. David and Joey have been immersed in music since they were infants, when their mother carried them to their fathers’ performances.
“Mom would take us in the bassinet and stick us under the bar tables, and we’d fall asleep,” said David. “Dad was a working musician who backed up people like Amos Garrett, but his love was always songwriting. He’d play three or four sets at those bars, so we’d be at the gigs all night.”
The guys also soaked up the history of music, in large part because of their father’s extensive record collection and personal history, and performances with a host of bands. When the quartet came together and Joey and David teamed musically for the first time, The Bros. Landreth were already road-tested.
The band, born and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has hit the right notes with critics in the U.S., Canada, England and beyond.
The 11 songs on their debut include the standout single “Runaway Train,” penned by the brothers’ father, Wally. The tracks are just the beginning of the mighty musical sound the quartet creates.
On any given night, the group’s set will mix covers such as “Let Me Roll It” from Wings with some of their lesser-known originals that didn’t make it onto the album. At the AMA showcase, they played a crowd-pleasing “Jesus on the Mainline,” a bluesy rocker that could slip into more than a few blues repertoires.
Like John Hiatt, recent music by John Mellencamp and the original outlaw, Billy Joe Shaver, this band serves up its fair share of love-and-life-done-me-wrong songs. That’s likely one reason some critics insist the band is not a total blues outfit (it’s not), and it does take a fair share of sonic inspiration from such artists as Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, The Allman Brothers and The Band.
The bottom line: The Bros. Landreth may not perform songs for lovers, but they do play music you’ll love.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: The Bros. Landreth in concert
WHERE: Rams Head on Stage, 33 West St., Annapolis, MD 21401
WHEN: Sunday at noon
INFO: Tickets $17.50 by calling 410/268-4545 or visiting RamsHeadOnStage.com
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