Kentucky Reign

Friday, November 3 @ UGA Hodgson Hall

originally published November 1, 2006

Taking its reconfigured name from that sad old drizzle poured from countless country and bluegrass skies over the years, Kentucky Reign is a group that doesn’t at all mind doing things the old-fashioned way. The quartet/ quintet - which includes brothers Donny Tribble (bass) and Billy Tribble (banjo), along with lead singer Rick Oldfield and occasional guest dobro player Ferrell Stowe - is headed up by fiddler-guitarist-vocalist James Price, a team player who carries a laundry list of impressive past affiliations with him.

Multi-instrumentalist Price started out playing guitar and, since finishing high school, has led a life on the road backing up country legends like Johnny Paycheck, Marty Stuart and Little Jimmy Dickens. Price joined up with Ralph Stanley’s esteemed Clinch Mountain Boys in 1995 and filled the group’s fiddle position until mid-2005. Price also recently released the solo album Fiddlin’ The Old Time Way, a collection of fiddle tunes selected from numerous requests he’s received at shows over the years.

Kentucky Reign doesn’t dabble in fusion like many of today’s bluegrass newcomers. Instead, the band opts for the high harmonies and high energy of forefathers like Bill Monroe and the Osborne Brothers. Between show dates, the band also participates in a hands-on, in-school program called “Bluegrass In the Schools.”

Kentucky Reign’s live show is designed as somewhat of a bluegrass primer that also touches upon classic country influences. In that respect, Price has also been known to include his impersonations of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and other Americana luminaries as part of the band’s genial onstage banter. Whether howling for the “Blue Moon of Kentucky” to keep on shining or remembering the cordial “Tennessee Waltz," Kentucky Reign’s business is straight-up bluegrass served up with plenty of nostalgic, Opry-esque stage presence and sensibility. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets ranging from $19 to $24 (or half price for UGA students) are available at the UGA Performing Arts Center box office or by calling 706-542-4400.

Michael Andrews

Big Gray

w/ Morningbell & the Titans of Filth

Wednesday, November 1 @ Caledonia Lounge

originally published November 1, 2006

Big Gray is many people, but one stands before the rest. Lucas Jensen - drummer, music publicist and professional conversationalist - started Big Gray a few years back when his then-bandmates failed to show at practice. After messing around with home recording for a few years, Jensen decided to turn Big Gray into a real band in 2005, with actual musicians laid out onstage around him in a casual yet consistent arrangement, manipulating instruments to perform the songs hatched from Jensen's noggin. Outside assistance was a necessity, as Jensen found it physically impossible to synchronize the performance of these various instruments all on his lonesome. Such help comes from members of Murder Beach, Red Leader, the Folk You's and Venice Is Sinking, the latter of which being a band Jensen also drums in. Together they have all turned Big Gray into one of the prime indie-pop bands currently batting its eyes coquettishly around Athens, if only infrequently.

Yes, Lucas Jensen writes all of Big Gray's songs, and, although generally a drummer, here he is a vocalist and pianist. He had to teach himself how to play piano after realizing he couldn't sing and drum at the same time. "I wish I could play through a headset mic like Phil Collins, but I am a terrible singer, and playing the drums would just make it worse," says Jensen, faux-modesty rippling through every word. Jensen's untrained voice finely suits his fuzzy, charmingly melodic pop songs, and bolsters the mid-to-late-'90s college radio aura that surrounds Big Gray. Indeed, he readily admits to "thoroughly holding on to 1994 to 1997" as a songwriter, and the loose indie-rock aesthetic is immediately apparent.

When pressed about Big Gray, Jensen replies with the following haiku: "We are King Midas / Flinging gold from our fingers / The magic of bling." Such confidence is refreshing, justified and thoroughly deserved.

Garrett Martin

Miwa Gemini

with Ham 1 & The Mattoid

Saturday, November 4 @ Flicker Theatre & Bar

originally published November 1, 2006

Singer, guitarist and pianist Miwa grew up in Fukuoka, on one of Japan’s southernmost islands, listening to American country, gospel, jazz and blues of the '30s, '40s and '50s - the same music that today influences her dark and quirky country-leaning songs - dreaming of the day she would move to the States. She got her chance her senior year of high school, when she applied to a foreign exchange program. “They asked me where I’d like to go, city or country. I said city, thinking San Francisco or Seattle. Instead, I ended up in Columbus, Ohio!” She laughs, shivering at the memory of her first winter in the Midwest.

After high school, she made it to dreamed-of New York City, studying graphic design at NYU (she designs the artwork for her albums), which eventually led to a career in photography. An assistantship with renowned photographer Joyce Tenneson brought Miwa to Savannah, and awakened her to a zeal for the South (besides Savannah and Athens, Miwa claims a strong fondness for Memphis and New Orleans).

Throughout college, Miwa - now going by the moniker Miwa Gemini - pursued her passion for music. She began studying piano at age three and has since taken up guitar, mandolin and banjo - conscious all the while that “being a musician is not a practical way of making a living,” but it is what she loves. She finds her old-timey, moody sound hard to describe, but affirms that at its backbone exists strong storytelling. Her favorite description of her music is “Patsy Cline meets the Cramps.” She spent part of last February recording her latest tentatively titled This Is How I Found You with Athens’ own Andy Baker, whom she met via Savannah College of Art & Design grad Brian Lackey, the former drummer of Savannah band Bughummer.

With winter arriving, snowbird Miwa is heading down South for a mini-tour, bringing with her the recent album Forgetful Ocean and Other Strange Stories and stopping at Flicker to play a set with The Mattoid and Athens’ Ham1. The show gets going around 8:30 p.m.

Deirdre Sayre