[ATTENDED: December 12, 2019] Strand of Oaks
In 2016, Timothy Showalter played his second Strand of Oaks Winter Classic 
at Boot and Saddle. I got a ticket for the third night, not really knowing what to expect.
It turned out to be a fantastic night of music and togetherness.
I missed the next year but went last year to Winter Classic IV. Which was also great.
There was no way I was going miss Winter Classic V. This year I went for the first night of the three.
The other two shows had opening acts announced, but there was none announced for my night.
I didn’t think we’d get an extra long show (Tim doesn’t do extra long shows). Instead we got a cool improv by his partner for the night, Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner.
It took a while for Tim to come out (especially since nothing had to be changed for his set). But again, he seems to want to start at 9:30 and end at 11.
Finally, Tim came out on stage, buried in a purple light that never changed the whole evening (what is going on at Boot & Saddle lately?). He also had his tiger print up on that back wall just like the last times (he’s never explained it and I don’t get it, but I like it).
For the first four songs it was just him on electric guitar. He bled some songs into each other and even changed the set list on the fly.
The setlist was a collection of songs from Heal and the new album Eraserland.
He started slowly with the lovely new song, “Wild and Willing.” After that he played two from Heal, “Same Emotions” and “Shut In.” “Shut In” is a terrific song and I love hearing him play it either solo or with the full band. This segued easily into the new song “Moon Landing.” I later saw that “Sleeping Pills” was on the setlist, but I feel like this song flowed perfectly from “Shut In.”
He offered up some enjoyable banter, telling us that he is from Indiana, but he lived a long time in Philly and now he lives in Texas. He doesn’t really have a home base, but Philly feels like one.
He told us that the next song was written for the light of his life, his wife Sue. He started a lovely version of “Keys” which also has lap steel on the record (played by Carl Broemel).
He even made a joke at one point: “setlist dot com: tuning break.”
Then he played a cover of the Phish song “Dirt” which I didn’t recognize at all until he said “where’s Trey” at the end.
I really like the opening song from Eraserland, “Weird Ways” and I thought this slow, powerful delivery was outstanding.
He gave a lengthy introduction to the next song explaining that he was buying records in (I want to say Wilkes Barre) and the guy in the store told him the new Songs: Ohia record was out. Tim told us the first notes you hear on that record are played by Slo-Mo. They proceeded to play “Whip-Poor-Will,” a song I didn’t know. But since I knew it was written by Jason Molina, I was sure hit had to be followed by “JM.”
“JM” is the song that first introduced me to Strand of Oaks and I would be very bummed if he didn’t play it. I also love that each time I’ve heard it, it has been different–with two different lap steel players and a full band.
He stayed on the Heal album with another beautiful song, “Plymouth.”
Then he played a few more new songs. I was excited that he played “Ruby” the new single. It’s a totally rocking song and got the crowd moving. But I really liked the way he slowed down the chorus for us and stretched it out perfectly.”
He told Slo-Mo he was going to call an audible and switch songs (I was up front and heard the whisper). He wound up playing “Visions” instead of “Eraserland” (which has a very different tempo). After the song the guy next to me said, good choice on the audible, which made Tim laugh. It was a good choice and fit the end of the set very well.
After the fantastic new song “Forever Chords,” it as time to wrap things up.
I don’t know if Tim ends every show with “Goshen ’97” but it is a fantastic ending to get everyone wound up and to singing along. This version was really cool since Slo-Mo played the lead guitar intro.
I was a little surprised that he didn’t play “Radio Kids” the single from his previous album, but this set seemed to be all Eraserland and Heal.
The following night he played a few songs from Hard Love (and different covers–I would have really liked to hear him sing Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight”), but overall I’m glad I chose this night.
After the show I talked briefly to Tim. He is so nice and friendly and really seems appreciative that people like his music. I’m pretty excited he;s got new songs. And I look forward to next year as part of my own holiday tradition.
| Winter Classic V (Night 1) 2019 | Winter Classic IV (Night 2) 2018 | Union Transfer (full band) 2017 |
| Wild and Willing € | Shut In ♥ (¢) | Acid Intro |
| Same Emotions ♥ | Plymouth ♥ (¢) | Shut In ♥ |
| Shut In ♥ | JM ♥ (¢) | Taking Acid and Talking to My Brother ⊗ |
| Moon Landing € [Sleeping Pills on setlist] | Weird Ways [first time played] € | Radio Kids ⊗ |
| Keys € ($) | Everything ⊗ (¢) | On the Hill ⊗ |
| Dirt [Phish cover] ($) | Wait for Love ♥ | HEAL ♥ |
| Weird Ways € ($) | Kill Dragon ¥ [sung with Tim’s wife, Sue] | Plymouth ♥ |
| Whip-Poor-Will [Songs: Ohia cover] ($) | Nation of Heat [Joe Pug cover] (¶) | Everything ⊗ |
| JM ♥ ($) | Dark Matter [Carl Broemel cover] (¶) | Rest of It ⊗ |
| Plymouth ♥ ($) | Comfortably Numb [Pink Floyd cover] (¶) | encore |
| new song [first time played] ($) | Rest of It ⊗ (¶) | Cry ⊗ |
| Ruby € ($) | The Golden Age [Beck cover] (¶) | JM ♥ (ϖ) |
| Visions € ($) | Goshen ’97 ♥ (¶) | Goshen ’97 ♥ (ϖ) |
| Forever Chords € ($) | ||
| Goshen ’97 ♥ ($) |
This set list is a guess
| Winter Classic II, Night 3 (2016) |
| ⊗ |
| ⊗ |
| Taking Acid and Talking to My Brother ⊗ |
| ⊗ |
| ⊗ |
| Goshen ’97 ♥ ($) |
| Hard Love ⊗ |
| Looks Like We Made It (snippet) |
| Shut In ♥ |
| Radio Kids ⊗ |
| JM ♥ |
€ = Eraserland (2019)
⊗ = Hard Love (2017)
♥ = Heal (2014)
¥ = Pope Killdragon (2010)
($) = featuring Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner on lap steel
(¢) = featuring Carl Broemel on lap steel or guitar
(¶) = featuring Carl Broemel and Joe Pug
(ϖ) = featuring John Baizley from Baroness on guitar
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