Front Country returns for two nights in the Bay Area
Next week, former Bay Area residents Front Country return for two high energy genre-bending Americana performances. Front Country will be performing a solo show in Felton at the new Flynn's Cabaret and Steakhouse, FKA Don Quixote's International Music Hall, on Thursday, February 15. On Saturday, February 17, the quintet will be providing middle-slot support for The Sam Chase and The Untraditional at Slim's in San Francisco. Saturday night's concert is hosted by Bluegrass Pride, a local organization dedicated to inclusion and community in a genre that is stereotypically driven by cis white males. Opening up Saturday evening will be the [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, April 7 – 9
Feel that Icelandic chill at The Fox this weekend. Friday, March 7 Regina Spektor @ The Greek Theatre The pianist and singer that made her fame in the mid-aughts will enchant the Greek. La Gente @ Elbo Room Cumbia, hip-hop, reggaie, and salsa sounds all come together to celebrate the city's diversity and promote its place as a sanctuary city. Lumerians, Peaking Lights, Potions @ The Chapel Sounds spooky, is spooky. Everyone Is Dirty, Dooms Virginia @ The Uptown A great lineup of local favorites, including the recently-renamed Dooms Virginia (FKA Annie Girl and the Flight). Saturday, March 8 The [...]
Front Country bids the Bay farewell to settle in Nashville
Melody Walker, the lead vocalist of the San Francisco Bay Area's rising star in bluegrass known as Front Country, has been totally shaped by the San Francisco Bay Area — a place she has always lived and called home. Until now. “We’ve been on tour basically since the start of the summer,” Walker tells me. “We’ve been, ah, houseless, most of us, and sort of in a transition-on-tour.” We’re sitting backstage at the Great American Music Hall. Front Country has time only to swing through the Bay Area one last time, with no extended visits or over-drawn farewells, before finally [...]
Photos: Front Country at Great American Music Hall
Front Country (photo: Ria Burman) Front Country brought down the house at the Great American Music Hall Thursday night with some jam rocking bluegrass beats. It's hard to keep still with their rhythm and blues getting all up in your bones! Check out their latest EP, Mixtape. Sweetwater String Band and Crow and the Canyon gave sweet support with a #noDAPL activist taking stage in between, spreading awareness with issues of utmost importance.
The Bay Abridged: May 11 – 24
In this recurring feature known as The Bay Abridged, our staff writers provide short, witty recaps on shows they attended around the Bay Area. A scene check, a heat check, and sometimes more — stop by every other Wednesday for the most comprehensive and concise recap of the Bay Area concert scene. Hot Buttered Rum, Front Country, Quiles & Cloud at The Fillmore (SF) May 13. Over the last six months, the Bay Area’s bluegrass favorite Hot Buttered Rum have released a series of six-song EPs recorded around a specific theme. Celebrating old influences, new collaborations and late night spirits, [...]
Music + Giveaway: Front Country debut rootsy-fun cover of Tune-Yards’ “Bizness”
Melody Walker of Front Country, with her signed 'Whokill' vinyl The San Francisco-based bluegrass band Front Country has some new business up their sleeves. They’ve recorded a cover of fellow Bay Area local Tune-Yards’ “Bizness” that manages to preserve the rollicking fun of the original while translating the loop-heavy arrangement to the band’s rootsy vibe. The song isn’t a far reach for a few of the members, as some of the members play in afrobeat and traditional West African ensembles. To singer Melody Walker, the rhythms and styles of Merril Garbus’ songs “felt like home.” “She's such a strong female [...]
Front Country puts a rootsy spin on the Talking Heads ahead of Halloween show
The bluegrass scene in the Bay Area is one of the most thriving around, and we're definitely root-ing for Front Country. (Get it? The scene is also full of bluegrass puns.) Their sound puts a fresh, orchestral spin on folk and bluegrass roots, and boy, will those melodies stick in your head and get you dancing. Below their upcoming Halloween show at Slim's, we chatted with Jacob Groopman of the band about music competitions, favorite spots to play in the Bay, and more. Plus, they shared a silly cover of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," which you can watch below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8D_AW9ArZo The Bay [...]
Front Country’s ‘Sake of the Sound’ release party at Slim’s next month
On the title track to their debut LP Sake of the Sound, Front Country's Melody Walker sings of the healing power of music ("When it hits you, you gonna feel no pain") while imploring the Oakland band's audience to grasp the band's personal investment in its craft ("Feel the room shake – can you hear my heart break? I'm in love with the sound"), laying bare the dual nature of music's emotional impact. The song – which finds itself at a similarly beautiful intersection between bluegrass and, well, fist-pumping, foot-stomping rock – is impossible to resist. Front Country released an [...]