Given and Taken in Ink

Joe Pug, Strand of Oaks – Live @ Johnny Brenda’s 04/14/2011

Joe Pug and Strand of Oaks brought their "brooding folk songs," as Pug referred to them, to Johnny Brenda's on Thursday night in Philadelphia.  Both artists had friends in the audience, so the atmosphere was warm and amiable throughout the night.

My wife and I arrived early and took our place on the side of the bar.  There were probably only about a dozen people in JB's upstairs concert venue (it's a regular bar downstairs), including a man who looked like Jesus in a Lionshead baseball cap.  Or, rather, a Jesus long overdue for a haircut.  If not for the cascading beard and hair, I might not have noticed the man, but he seemed to be the center of some reunion.  As people came upstairs, he'd exclaim, "Hey!  How have you been?"  Or, "Hey!  Have you met my wife?"  There were a couple of younger guys around him, chatting about their music blogs.  (I know, right?  Damn music bloggers...)

The man turned out to be Tim Showalter, the voice behind the moniker Strand of Oaks (which my wife, exhausted from working two 12-hour shifts, kept calling "Shroud of Darkness").  This only became apparent when I watched trucker-hat Jesus move from the bar, get up on stage, and start singing.  Despite referring to himself at one point as "a lower mid-level folk singer," he put on a great show.  He was the only musician on stage, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and effects pedal, but treated the audience to a performance that varied from tender to fierce.  Many of the songs were intense and personal; Showalter nearly growled into the mic at times.  (It's possible he wasn't growling at all, but when you could pass for a grizzly bear in a trucker hat, even your sweetest melodies can seem intimidating...)  It wasn't all brooding, though, as mixed in with lyrics about loss of loved ones ("Kill Dragon") were lines about what I thought sounded like "titties and ass" (although possibly "Chevy's an ass," from "Daniel's Blues," a fictional account of Dan Aykroyd's reaction to John Belushi's death).

I wasn't very familiar with Strand of Oaks before tonight, but Showalter's performance led me over to the merch table for a copy of his latest album, Pope Killdragon.  A nice crowd surrounded him, and Showalter took the time to have a conversation with every person who stopped by.  The guy seemed genuinely nice and appreciative of the support he's received.  Eventually, I got a chance to say hello and compliment him on the show.  When I asked for a copy of the vinyl, he got excited and admitted "I'm really proud of this.  A lot of work went into it."

Strand of Oaks - Daniel's Blues

Later in the night, Joe Pug took the stage with two bandmates whose names I didn't catch, an electric guitarist and and an upright bassist.  Pug's studio recordings are arresting, but his live show takes it to an entirely different level.  If you have any interest in Joe Pug, you need to see this guy live.  The way the man plays on stage, it's like he's just full of bottled up energy and can barely contain it from bursting forth.  He was much more animated and lively than I ever expected, as well as very charismatic and funny.

"Hymn #101" was one of the standouts, with Pug beginning the song by singing away from the mic, upward and outward to the audience, as if to truly elevate it to the realm of spiritual praise.  Perhaps by design, the other "hymn" from Nation of Heat, "Hymn #35," was also sung in this manner, this time away from the mic for the song's entirety.  The effect was remarkable, transforming what could have been just another folk rock show into something that felt like a group of friends sitting around a campfire.  Pug wasn't just playing songs for a crowd; it was like he was letting us in on his own private memories and ruminations.

Tracks from Nation of Heat seemed to dominate the set (which is fine - Pug's debut album is fantastic), but he also played selections from the In the Meantime EP and Messenger.  Of these, I was particularly impressed with "How Good You Are."  I've always liked the song, but Pug's performance transformed it for me.  It's always a great experience when a live performance can let you walk away with a renewed appreciation for a song you may have overlooked before.

Joe Pug - Hymn #101