We were back again, last night April 23, at the Six Springs Tavern to see Griff Hamlin and The Single Barrel Blues Band with Blueschild. I bonus’d big-time by scoring a table, the only good seat left, in the dead center of the place, directly in front of the stage. Bonsai! I got there at 7:30, doors opened at 7, good crowd, age 50+. My good friend Charlie Rondeau joined me for the evening.
Blueschild opens at 8, 4 piece blues band, good stuff, straight ahead Texas blues. All original music. First thing that jumped out at me was the primary lead guitarist reminded me of one Johnny Winter, in that he played with a thumb pick, had the same lanky build, white hair and apparently stole Johnny’s hat. He played a strat, and he allowed it to sound like a strat, complete with Claptonesque out of phase 2nd position pickup switch. Nice touch. As I said, all original music, that raggedy, grungy, sound we all love. Singer played a semi-hollow tele thru a Princeton Reverb, producing a clear biting sound with a hint of dirt. Vocals were clear with just enough rasp. Blueschild played right at an hour.
Now, 9:40ish, its time for Griff Hamlin and the band, complete with horn section, luckily Six Springs has a good sized stage for all nine band members without appearing crowded, they blast into a smoking “Almost Level to the Ground”, one of my personal favorites. Griff stated that the band hadn’t performed together since 2019 and 2 of the horns were hired guns for this night. Well if the band was “off” last night, you would have never known it! Great mix, all instruments clearly defined, of course as a guitarist I would have had Griff cranked up a wee bit more. Most of the songs came from their latest album, “I’ll Drink to That”. For the next 1 ½ hours the band held forth and did not let go. Songs included Where Would I Begin, Running On, When Evil Comes, an absolute killer version of Someone , a rousing Bourbon and a Pistol, finishing the set with Down and Out. Great rapport with the audience, the band was obviously enjoying themselves and it most definitely showed in the music. Heads up folks, The Single Barrel Blues Band could very well be the DFW area’s next must-see band. Griff played a strat, a blue-burst Les Paul and a Gold top Les Paul, that I was lustfully coveting. Keep an eye out and go see Griff and the band.