Six Shooter Records Presents: Harlan Pepper, Deep Dark Woods & The Beauties
Saturday night was an opportunity for Six Shooter Records to showcase some of their notable talents at Lee’s Palace. I actually haven’t seen the place as packed as it was in quite a long while.
First up was Harlan Pepper, a four piece band from Hamilton. These young chaps had a flare for folk rock, with an eminent jazz influence. Possessing a strong, quivering, Dylan-esque, voice lead singer Dan Edmonds also knew his way around his hollow body guitar. HP played concise solos that left the audience asking for more. Both guitar and bass riffs were clearly well thought out and created a great ride for the drums to guide. Each member had an opportunity to sing and each possessed the pipes to do it well. As their set drew to a close the bar began to fill up.
Deep Dark Woods has left quite an impression on this city – appearing in notable local publications and blogs in the days leading up to the show. Hailing from Saskatchewan, DDW had the crowd’s focus from the get go. As soon as vocals started up, the entire crowd came to a hush, it was almost surreal how fixated they all were on these gents. It was a little ballsy starting with a slow tune out of the gate, but as the song progressed they weren’t afraid to rub a little funk on it. A hollow body made an appearance in this band as well, and was accompanied by some beautiful keymanship. It’s clear that these guys take themselves very seriously, so much so that they know that they can let their music speak for itself. Some notable quotes from lead singer, Ryan Blodt, “We had some delicious Thai food at the Thai food place. It was delicious,” and “Here’s another song. It’s about things and stuff.” The tunes were a bit on the lengthy side, but never boring.
When The Beauties sauntered onto the stage, I didn’t know what to expect. But, by the end of the set my mind was blown. Bit of a unique set-up; 3 guitars: one being, you guessed it, another hollow body, plus one electric, and an acoustic. Nothing fancy with these guys, just a couple miked amps and some use of whammy bars. The wailing bad-ass riffs were amazing, the heart of rock and roll. Their strengths were in their surf rock type tunes. Because their style was pretty gritty, and at the core, Rockabilly, some of their slower tunes were more on the country side. Despite their foundations of more traditional stylings, these guys played riffs that were refreshing, beyond the dependency of hooks. They had brought their own sound guy, which may have attributed to why they had a fuller sound. Drums in particular were top-notch. The crowd was loving the set, singing along, and dancing. Overall a great way to end the night.
