Strand of Oaks, Tyler Ramsey at The Earl, April 13, 2019

So, a quick word of explanation before anyone jumps to a wrong conclusion: last night, we went to see Tyler Ramsey and Strand of Oaks at The Earl, but once there realized we left our iPhone in the car.  Pics or it didn't happen, as they say, but in this case it did happen but we just weren't able to get any pics.  Which is a shame, because per usual, we were in the front row and, unusually, The Earl had the stage lit pretty brightly, so the pics would have come out great.  So instead, we will randomly post pictures from something called the Equatorial Guinea Bodypainting Festival without any additional explanation.

Getting to it, then, there were only two bands on the bill and the opener was singer/songwriter Tyler Ramsey, best known as the frontman for Band of Horses.

Ramsey, as they say, is a tall drink of water and a commanding presence on stage.  This worked to his advantage as he performed solo, just him and a few of his favorite guitars.  This was a classic "folk" singer/songwriter set and relied on the audience to pay attention to his lyrics and guitar picking.  His imposing presence on stage worked well for him in this regard, as he was hard to ignore (although as always at The Earl, a group of people back near the bar seemed oblivious that they were at a live music performance as they talked away loudly).

We're not big fans of this kind of singer/songwriter set, and even less so of folk singers performing songs with which we aren't familiar (most of Ramsey's set was from his new solo LP).  We thought about it during his set, and before you roll your eyes at us going into another discussion of veridinal vs. sequential processing of music, hear us out: we enjoy folk singers (Damien Jurado comes to mind) when we're familiar with their music - that's when the veridinal system can kick in.  But if we don't know the songs and don't experience that veridinal kick of endorphins when we recognize songs that we know, the folksy music of singer/songwriters is just too austere and simple, just the strumming and picking of guitar strings, for the sequential system to identify some theretofore unrecognized sequence of sounds and recognize it as music and release it's endorphins.  So we're left there, sans serotonin.  It's not that the music's bad or unpleasant, it's just that we don't get that "kick" that we go to music to experience.

Still, kudos to Tyler Ramsey - the songs were well written, he's a good guitarist, and he has a fine voice.  Those paying attention and familiar with his LP seemed to really enjoy the set.

After a short intermission, Strand of Oaks took the stage.

Strand of Oaks is the long-time vehicle for Timothy Showalter's music.  The "band," such as it is, was usually just Showalter with possibly a few other musicians recruited to add some textures and shading to his songs.  But classic Strand of Oaks albums, like the cult classic Pope Killdragon, were basically folk-rock affairs, with an inclination toward the folk side.

But times change and musicians change, and musicians change with the times and the times change with musicians, and Timothy Showalter and Strand of Oaks are no exceptions.  The newest Strand of Oaks album, Eraserland, features a full-on rock band performing full-fledged rock songs.  It's a dramatic departure for Showalter, but he manages, at least on record, to maintain his Strand of Oaks identity and signature sound.

The live show is to the new record what the new record is to the older records.  This was full-on southern rock, occasionally veering into blues-rock territory.  Showalter was clearly having a great time, smiling throughout the whole set, even during what seemed like sad songs, and the enthusiastic audience loved it, dancing the whole time, fist-pumping and finger-pointing in the air.  It was a great back-and-forth exchange of energy between audience and performer, each pushing the other onto greater heights. Pope Killdragon himself would have been proud to see where Showalter has taken his band of merry men.

We weren't familiar with the new songs (no veridinal endorphins) and the music, while orders of magnitude more dynamic than Tyler Ramey's, was still pretty straight-forward, anthemic, arena-sized rock, so while there were some sequential releases, the mind only released the endorphins in drips and drops, virtually titrating the serotonin to our neural receptors.  To be honest, the best part of the show was the very enjoyable experience of watching Showalter work the sold-out crowd at The Earl into a frenzy, and to see the frenzy if the crowd in turn push Showalter into Springsteen territory (the distance between Eraserland and E Street is not as far as one might think). 

Showalter sincerely thanked the audience for their support, attention and enthusiasm, high-fiving the crowd and even hugging some of the more enthusiastic patrons in the front row.  He even thanked the City of Atlanta on Twitter for our support and enthusiasm, and posted the set list.

This was a fun way to spend a Saturday night, and even if the music wasn't completely to our taste it was still a good show and an interesting experience.  Showalter seems destined to take his music into bigger clubs and venues than the little old Earl, and with the band and showmanship there's no reason not to imagine Strand of Oaks headlining festivals or filling arenas in the not-distant future.