By: David de Young
 Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys at Lee's (Photo credit David de Young) |
Big Sandy - vocals, guitar Official website: http://www.bigsandy.net Trivia: Toured with Morrisey in 1992 |
Formed in 1988 as Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio, Big Sandy and band play what is variously described as western (or Texas) swing and rockabilly with numerous other subtle influences.
Freshly returned from SXSW music festival in Austin, TX where they headlined the Twangfest Roadhouse Reunion on March 13th, Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys played a modestly attended, but rock solid and high quality show at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Thursday night. You really should have been there.
"Check 1, 2. Let's go! " said Big Sandy (real name Robert Williams) as way of introduction. Then the band launched into its first song, "Hey Low Down" (a song that tells a story of car envy) and into a two hour long, break-free set. I don't think I've ever heard a band catch their stride as quickly as the Fly-Rite Boys did Thursday night.
Apparently I wasn't alone in the feeling as the instantly filled dance floor confirmed my suspicion that these guys were smoking from song one.
Big Sandy said he was sad tonight as he'd forgotten to wear his "I Love the Carpetbaggers" button. It was just one of half a dozen flattering remarks he would make about the evening's local openers throughout the night.
"Blackberry Wine," featured an outstanding clean guitar solo by UK import and nerdy glasses-wearer Ashley Kingman. Fellow UK transplant Lee Jeffries on pedal steel helped make this song an early favorite. In fact, Kingman's and Jeffries leads stood out through the entire set and were nothing short of remarkable.
Big Sandy's vocals have been called velvety by too many critics to count, and his band has such an authentic rockabilly sound I felt like I'd been transported back to 1955 despite the fact that my parents were still in high school then and hadn't even met yet, let alone thought about having kids.
On "I'd Love to Hate You" the band demonstrated this cool fadeout effect where it literally sounded like Sandy and the whole band were being turned down by the sound guy. Despite the fact that it's kind of weird when playing live to nearly duplicate the sound of a recorded album, this was a cool effect
Big Sandy announced that they will have a new record out in June on Hightone Records, the follow up to "Night Tide (Hightone 2000)." The new album will be called "It's Time!"
Jeff West (who replaced founding member Wally Hersom in 1999 after Hersom's 11 year sting with the group) looked eerily like Joe Jackson at times, slapping his bass with alacrity. I noted that the bass was signed with marker (See photo) by fellow rockabilly revivalist Ray Condo who'll be playing Lee's on April 16th.
Drummer Bobby Trimble had some trouble with his kit mid set, so they performed "Bluest Boy in Town" without him. This song had a sound reminiscent of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" ("shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.")
Drums repaired, Trimble started out the next song with a drum solo and into a Fly-Rite Boys instrumental while Big Sandy apparently headed to the bar for another beer. I was finding it hard to believe it was a Thursday. The crowd differed only in numbers from the weekend; there was no weekday lack of enthusiasm.
Sandy pulled out a yet to be released song from the upcoming album saying that his friend, Minneapolis/UK singer/songwriter Raven had heard that one in Austin where they'd hung out for a while at SXSW. Then came the bouncy "Tequila Calling" in which Big Sandy sings of hearing alcohol beckoning to him, a sound many of us are, I'm sure, familiar with. Not unsurprisingly, this song had a Latin feel to it. As they broke into "Chalk It Up To The Blues" I looked at my watch and noticed they'd already been playing over an hour with no break. Don't these guys ever get tired?
Another new song from upcoming record, "Who put the Magic in the Wine?' suggests it may be an essential Big Sandy purchase.
The dedicated a song to the Carpetbaggers, and another to "The Wolf" (Dave Wolf, lead singer of the Vibrochamps and Lee's booker.) "True Blue Papa," was a highlight late in the set. Bassist West sang the next one, "Money Tree, " with the catchy mantra "Andrew Jackson come to me."
It was nearly one a.m. by this point and the soundman had motioned to the guys to wrap it up, but they indicated politely they were going to play until they literally got stopped. Tired as I was at 12:55 a.m. I didn't want to miss a single song, so there was not much chance of leaving until they were through.
Before the final song, Sandy asked "Where's the Party?" And I don't think that was just idle stage banter. They ended the night with "A Man Like Me," a sweet groove ending a cool set. These boys do fly right. Catch them if you can.
Location Info:
Lee's Liquor Lounge
Artist Info: Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys
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