By: David Rachac
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| Charley Dush with Kiki Lane - Photo by Steve Cohen |
I think if I had a year like Charley Dush did in 2006, I probably would have pulled my blanket over my head and would have never left my bedroom. Between having his long-time job eliminated and seeing his marriage come to an end, Dush would have had a reason to crawl in a hole and never come up for sunlight. And in effect, that is what he did—but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he barricaded himself in his basement studio and channeled his heartache into his new CD Breakdown Union, an excellent mix of Byrds-like country-rock that got the full-band treatment at Mayslack’s on Friday.
And what a full band it was! Nine–count ‘em, NINE! –folks were onstage, including bassist Trent Norton, keyboardist Peter Sands from the Honeydogs and Dave Russ from the Cultivators. You had some pedal steel (Joe Savage), a whole lot of guitars (Kevin Brown, Mike Lane and Dush) and a whole lot of harmony as well (Mike Lane, Kiki Lane and Kristen Schuldt), filling the room with sound and motion. Given Dush’s obvious love of the Beatles (and specifically George Harrison) and the sheer number of people onstage, some of the people in the band were calling the show “The Concert for Bangla-Dush.
It is hard enough to coordinate this many people when the band is regularly this size, but for a band that only had a couple of practices together, they sounded amazingly tight. Part of that can be attributed to the professionalism of the performers and some of the long-term partnerships that Dush has with several of the band’s members, but I think special tribute should be given to the sound guy who kept the mix bright and didn’t let the sound get muddied down by all of the action happening onstage.
Starting the evening off with “Always Wanted To” gave everyone an indication of what we were going to be in for—lots of four-part harmonies, soaring pedal steel and Beatlesque pop. And to that end, Dush paid tribute to the Beatles with a cover of “If I Needed Someone” early in the show. In fact, much of the first half of his set was centered on anything BUT songs on Breakdown Union, which was maybe a little surprising for a CD release show, but it allowed fans who were familiar with his music to warm up a little before hearing songs they hadn’t heard before.
After playing “Two Lonely Travelers” (the closest thing to a Jayhawks tune I’ve heard since Tim O’Reagan’s CD last year) and a couple of songs from his Highwood Hills CD, Dush finished the second half of his set primarily with songs off the new CD. Ranging from the winsome “Where Have You Gone Julie?” (and the killer line of “She wrote Brian Jones on her jeans/And for a kid of only fifteen/That's probably one of the coolest things that I'd ever seen") to the honky-tonk “One More Day of Happiness” to the rocking “Top Of The World,” Dush looked so damned happy on stage–it probably never dawned on him as he was writing these songs how good they would feel with an all-star band and a room full of fans. If anyone ever questioned whether happiness can come from heartache, the performance by Charley Dush and his band tells me the answer is an emphatic: “Yes!”
Set List:
Always Wanted To
Wellington Lane
If I Needed Someone (Beatles cover)
Ready To Leave
On The Bus
Marjorie Melancholy
Two Lonely Travelers
Veil Of Plastic Tears
Love You Tonight
Where Have You Gone Julie?
Lost In The Shuffle
One More Day Of Happiness
Wits End
Wilson Avenue
Top Of The World
Location Info:
Mayslack's
Artist Info: Charley Dush
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