Listening to Shotgun Wedding is like walking into a warmly-lit room full of old friends, the tables piled high with comfort food and drinks a-plenty, and hanging out, eating, drinking and laughing all evening. From the opening note of ‘City Boy’, the first track from their debut record ‘South of Somewhere’, there’s a fun, friendly and feel-good rootsy jam band approach to their music that is impossible not to fall for. This sounds like the kind of music that would come across perfectly live, because there’s a familiarity in their arrangements, production and melodies and a personable approach that makes you feel like good friends just hanging out.
Often it takes many years of practise and study to obtain the level of professionalism that makes everything sound effortless, and the folks in Shotgun Wedding are no different. Each of the five members has a truly impressive resume that would take up too much space to list here, but rest assured it proves their chops in making music, and doing it really, really well. Their work in Shotgun Wedding is a side project, a labor of love that helps to infuse the music with a sense of passion and enjoyment – there’s nothing quite like the creative power that comes from making art just because you want to, and you can.
As a result, ‘South of Somewhere’ is a 13-track record full to the brim with huge tunes, dancing, and instant classics. They blur the lines between country, rock ‘n’ roll, blues and classic pop, adding plenty of boogie piano to the typical guitar-bass-drums combo and setting the likes of ‘Down In Flames’ alight (no pun intended). Thick, lush harmonies are present throughout while Dennis DelGaudio and Catherine Porter alternate on lead vocals, giving different flavors to each fiery offering.
There are two constants on this record. The first is the narrative theme of juxtaposing southern music with northern, suburban and city life. None of the band members are actually from the south (they’re mostly from the NYC/NJ area, while Andy Cichon hails from South Australia), but are able to interpret it extremely well regardless, combining that with a unique incorporation of specifically metropolitan tales. Opener ‘City Boy’ is as much of a mission statement as it is an irresistibly catchy place to begin, while ‘City Hall’ describes their namesake situation amid lines that add delightful levels of setting detail, including a selfie from the waiting room. ‘Skeeters’ laments the mosquitos that comes from vacationing outside New York City, while ‘Footsteps Away’ celebrates the joys of so many things being available within walking distance, a tribute to the diversity of the Big Apple.
The second constant on this record is how pleasant, familiar and comforting it all feels. Every song is instantly begging to be sung along to, every track makes you want to move, every lyric draws you in with its intriguing vocal charisma – it’s like slipping on a pair of well-worn slippers after years of walking in stilettos. It’s comfortable, and that’s not to say that the is safe by any means, simply that it throws back to the music of the 70s, when everything blended and was still fresh and new. There are echoes of country and rock influences from that era, ranging from Willie Nelson to The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. As for modern acts, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a healthy dose of Taking The Long Way-era Dixie Chicks and Zac Brown Band in there too, and all the diverse influences they bring to the table.
The joy of Shotgun Wedding is exemplified really in the first few tracks on ‘South of Somewhere’. ‘The Answer’ is a Catherine-led upbeat country/rock ‘n’ roll number about the long road to feeling better, before realizing that it was someone in particular bringing her down. ‘Broken’, meanwhile, spotlights Dennis’ rough, gritty vocals over a dirty blues groove with lashings of slide guitar. ‘Hurtin’ Songs’ finds Catherine on a radio-ready country/soul ballad with a pure but emotionally raw delivery, and a lyric that cleverly name-checks many classic country songs (PS – a mainstream female needs to cut this and take it to #1 – it’s just too good not to get its due on country radio). The title track brings the energy back for a whiskey-soaked, road-weary mid-tempo offering that’s perfect for driving on the open road (plus an appropriate lyric about geography).
Quite simply, this album is 13 tracks of joy and pain and great music, with melodies that will take you home every time. But more than other feel-good bands, their songs tell accessible but interesting stories that make them stand out from the crowd. Is it possible to do it all? A few listens to ‘South of Somewhere’ implies it is. Shotgun Wedding are probably my favorite new band in 2016 thus far, and I’m so excited to see where they go next.
Originally posted here.
