I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 31, 2019] Ryley Walker

I saw Ryley Walker open for Calexico in May of 2018.  He played with a trio–second guitar and bass.

Even though I was at the show, I clearly didn’t remember it very well, because I was puzzled why he was on this jam band bill.  The confusion is because I mostly remembered him singing the song “Telluride Speed,” a mellow folky song.

But re-watching some of the videos from that show I realize that much of the show was instrumental jams between he and his co-guitarist Bill McKay.  So I should have realized it made sense.

But I was so puzzled when he came out and started playing that I genuinely wasn’t sure if it was the same guy.

In part because the music he was playing was abstract and noisy and utterly experimental.  (It makes sense that his jamming for Calexico would be a bit more folky).  Plus, he looked completely different.

Here he is back in May of 2018 (left) and here is is December 31 2019 (right).

I actually had to double check the spelling of his name to make sure I had the same guy.  (I did).

His band was a four piece with Ryan Jewell back on drums.  As the set began, Jewell was making these amazing sounds on his kit.  He scraped cymbals across his drums heads, disassembled his hi-hat to use each cymbal independently, placed things against the mics and had all kinds of percussion around him.

Meanwhile, Ryley was playing some avant garde sounds and riffs–maximizing his pedals while his notes echoed and bent.  It was very Greenwich Village Experimental.

Brad Truax was on bass.  Early in the set, he was the only one playing a rhythm since Jewell was making noises and Ryley was exploring guitar sounds.  I found out after the show that Truax is the bassist for Interpol.  That musical combination doesn’t make complete sense to me and it wasn’t always obvious they were on the same page, but it was fun to close my eyes and let all of this wash over me (it was about 2:15 AM by this point).

The really interesting stuff came when lap steel guitarist Dan Iead added his sounds to the mix.  Iead added chords and his own solos often creating the only melody while Walker was soloing madly.

Most of the early jamming was slow and ambient but as it neared the end, everybody went a little berserk.  I loved watching Walker play this insane solo and watching just what he was doing with hands.  I also loved that Iead played this cool spaceship rising sound midway through this clip.  And having Truax and Jewell keep a rhythm together through this was pretty fascinating.

I really have no sense for how long they played.  30 or 40 minutes, I suspect.

It was one long improv.  At some point someone shouted to him something about indie rock and Walker pointedly said “fuck indie rock.”

When Walker decided the set was over, he brought the whole proceeding to a crashing ending.

And then he announced it was time for the jam.

The jam meant that everyone who was on stage that night was invited back on stage to play a massive improv.

So now with nine or ten people on stage the fun really exploded.  I stayed in front of Chris Forsyth and Ryley for a little while, but it was now getting really late.  I didn’t want to leave before it was over because that would be lame, but at the same time it was nearing three AM and who knew how long a free form improv would go on (curfew is 4 AM).

So I moved over to the other side of the stage.  This was an opportunity to see Patrick Gubler and Danny Arakaki a little better.

In fact I always like being on this side of the stage because you can usually see the guitars a little better.  So it was cool to be able to see Forsyth, Walker and Tom Malach all wailing.

The jam started as a simple riff played by Derek Spaldo on bass (Brad Truax either sat this out or played for a little bit, but mostly he seemed to be packing up his gear).

One thing that I really enjoyed from being on this side of the stage was being able to see both Cesar Arakaki and Ryan Jewell and to watch both drummers play in sync.

I felt a little badly for Danny Arakaki being far away from the other three lead guitarists since he’s an excellent guitarist in his own right, but I was happy to see him step up front once in a while so we could see all five guitars up on stage at once.

I told myself I’d stay until five after 3.  But when 3:05 came around it felt like they were maybe wrapping things up, so I gave it five more minutes.

Nearly 3:15, I was sure the jam was over as Walker rolled on the floor and Spaldo took off his bass, but really that just meant a few more minutes of experimenting with pedals and feedback which I did rather enjoy.  But honestly that could go on forever, so I took my leave.

My consolation was that as I was heading up the stairs, I heard Walker say “Thank you, goodnight.”

So that was my late night in New York City.  How bohemian I felt walking the Village streets at 3:30 AM.  Amazingly I got home by 4:45 and even managed to have a semi-productive day on New Years Eve.

Three cheers for the Phish after party–totally worth it!