Flanfire

The Dangerous Women of Shotgun Party

Okay, already. It has been a few weeks, and we are just now getting around to reviewing one of our favorite debut recordings of the year -- by the raucous trio known as Shotgun Party. I ran into singer-songwriter Jenny Parrott (and her newly shorn locks) and fiddle phenom Katy Rose Cox at Headhunters where they too were enjoying the music of transplanted North Dakotan Leo Rondeau and the return to Austin of Helga the VW van and her caretakers -- Rich Russell and Landry McMeans, aka the Lonesome Heroes.

Listening to Shotgun Party's music is like taking a trip back in time -- and into an alternate universe as well. Parrott, a Connecticut Yankee who honed her craft in Poughkeepsie (New York) at Vassar College, shakes and shimmies all over the stage (or even off the stage -- imagine a folkie mosh pit!). Cox, who grew up in Austin, furthered her education in Denver and honed her performance on both coasts, finds notes that have a sirenic effect on male and female alike. Bassist Christopher Crepps rounds out the trio, though Shotgun Party shows might also be graced by the presence of the maestro Oliver Steck and/or various others.

Then there are the lyrics -- often bawdy, often expressing youthful innocence, but always romantic (nostalgic). It is as though a grown-up Shirley Temple were bodyswapping back and forth with Bette Midler. The CD opens with "Gladiola," and right away Katy Rose takes us on a journey through Jenny's living room of the mind, where she is singing a "new tune" that lilts up and down with her own movements on stage. "New Mexico" tells the tale of a girl about to be jilted, while "Haunted House Bear" goes back in time to where the fishing was good and there never was any danger.

"BNSF" is a waltz about a train ride romance ... that sounds like the Sons of the Pioneers especially during the chorus. "Tiger Stripes" asks "how did she become a woman before me?" This is toe-tapping music that only the spiritually dead can listen to without at least dancing in the heart. "Holy Needles" is Jenny in a boat rowing and rowing while "you provide the note," and each note is "a drop of water in my heart's wooden wheel."

Then there's "Mama," a dirge in which Jenny asks "Mama, what can you do for me? I stand at the ocean and its ghost I see" -- every day. How can Mama fix a broken heart? Or maybe a broken "Little Heart Tune"? This is pure Charleston -- about a guy who should have left "my heart to me." For the first time on the CD, Crepps gets to show us his marvelous bass licks. Then it is "Yell Out the Chords," about a man with a wandering eye ... a minor key sensation with Jenny's classic wobbling vocal and Katy's wicked fiddle hoping to "bring that true love out."

Then it's "Devil Town," where our gal is home with the devil helping him put on his makeup for his show. "When You Take a Lover" is a warning not to -- try to please or even to learn his heartaches -- because you will just cry when he says goodbye. [Clearly our Jenny has watched a LOT of very old black and white movies.] This is the song with the quiet chorus that includes the entire audience "ooh-ooh-ing." Then it's "Pickled Eggs," a great fiddle tune -- "my heart is aching with an awful sorrow with thoughts of you that you are gonna leave." And here again, we get some great licks from Crepps -- trust me, live and in person the whoops are HUGE!

Finally, it's time for "Travelin' On," and yes Jenny wrote this one too. We're back to the Sons of the Pioneers and Jenny as Dale Evans. Now here's a tip. The band name is Shotgun Party, but it's a "bang bang tee hee" kind of name .... and any time you want to have a real party, get to one of their shows. These gals are WONDERFUL!

And while I am on the subject -- Lonesome Heroes is moving their Wednesday night alt-country showcase from Headhunters to the Hole in the Wall starting in September. I would write more about them and Leo, but you already know (or can find in the archives) what a great songwriter Leo is -- you might NOT know that he is becoming a much better on-stage PERFORMER!


Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.