"Folk is cool and it's the new punk," is what went through my mind after seeing The Cave Singers, an eclectic and undeniably important Seattle trio.
Eclectic in this case, though, is not only the parts of its sum. Nothing so crass from this top quality singer songwriter-fronted band. No, this is truly organic and comes straight from the past arriving here with nothing added and absolutely nothing of any worth left out, making it indivisible from itself and from its evolutionary context.
That context includes stellar figures such as Neil Young and the late, great Gram Parsons. There's also Emmylou, even a little Dolly in there as well as Cat Stevens, along with an "I loved punk too" vibe. It's also tight and not without a certain indie strict time feel.
Splicing this right down the middle are expansive literary influences, acknowledged by lead vocalist Peter Quirk and guitarist Derek Fudesco when we chatted after the gig. Those influences range from beat to broad with Jack Kerouac as well as Walt Whitman walking as large as life through each song.
When I mentioned that their lyrics reminded me most of Ken Kesey's seminal book, Sometimes a Great Notion , Peter said "Hey, that was on my list..." And this band is on mine; put them on yours so you can see them somewhere small before they cost more. They ain't the types to go astray, though. They'll be around because they mean it and like everyone that does, they'll just get better as time goes by—like a vintage wine; like Neil Young.
In one song where the protagonist was in the "cold candle light" and "waiting here to be rescued", Tim Buckley's 'Morning Glory' could be heard as plain as day. Now that is a very, very good sign.
They could even be influential in a North American country folk tradition that, comfortingly, has got the life-blood pulsing through its veins, a flow that has coursed unswervingly, if at times underground, all the way here from Woody Guthrie. The Cave Singers indicate a phase of systole for that great tradition's beating heart.
The guitars were lovely, simple and full proving that, when it all comes down, two guitars, a drum kit and a well understood tambourine can take you there and right back to that heart.
It was metaphysical, it was existential, it was pure, it was real.
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