SOUNDTRACK: BROTHERS OSBORNE-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #215 (May 26, 2021).
If Brothers Osborne were an instrumental band I’d really like them. Lead guitarist John Osborne is an amazing player whose riffs are amazing and even though they sound pretty country, he’s amazing to watch.
But when T.J. Osborne starts singing, you understand why they wear cowboy hats.
For their Tiny Desk (home) concert… Brothers Osborne–a country duo that’s long challenged the conventions of country and still managed to top the charts–scale to fit the setting – John’s wood-panelled Nashville living room furnished with plenty of guitars and a tiny desk featuring a Maryland flag mug – but refuse to dial down the intensity.
They open with “Muskrat Greene,” the instrumental that is so impressive. T.J.’s guitar licks are flying, Adam Box’s drums keep a tight martial pace (and the drum sound is fantastic) and the song never lets up. I love the backwards guitar part in the middle along with some cool keyboard soloing from Gabe Dixon.
Opening with the explosive instrumental track “Muskrat Greene,” Brothers Osborne and their collaborators use their set to showcase the very best of Skeletons. As on the record, they transition immediately into “Dead Man’s Curve,” a track that’s the ideal interplay between John’s fiery guitar and T.J.’s singular vocal stylings.
After two and a half minutes they segue into “Dead Man’s Curve” which sounds like a pretty great rockin’ roots song. The main riff after the chorus is spectacular and T.J.’s solo smokes. I’d like to hear it with different vocals.
“I’m Not for Everyone” is where the set falters for me. It is such a standard country song–anthemic and familiar–I’m sure it sounds exactly like some other country song. I might enjoy it more as a cover because the lyrics are pretty funny (country music self-deprecation). The addition of “local legend” Matt Heasley on accordion is a nice touch.
“Skeletons” opens with some muted acoustic guitar from T.J. and some nice slide guitar work from Jason Graumlich. Once again, if this song didn’t feel so “country” I would really like it. Musically it’s solid (John gets another great solo) and lyrically it’s quite clever. I just don’t like the vocal style. When I imagine Richard Thompson singing it, I like it a lot better.
“Hatin’ Somebody” (never got nobody nowhere) ends the set with more clever lyrics. This time John uses the slide for some more great guitar work. The song has a fun riff and Pete Sternberg’s bass keeps the low end solid. But the song is just too country for me.
I do appreciate how much fun they are having though.
[READ: June 1, 2021] Spy School
I read Gibbs’ Charlie Thorne books recently and really enjoyed them, so I thought it would be fun to check out his earlier series Spy School (which C. had read a few years ago and really liked).
This story had the same kind of clever wit as the Charlie Thorne books, which I greatly appreciated. It was also a pretty exciting story.
It starts in the middle of nowhere. Well, actually in the middle of Ben Ripley’s house. Where, out of nowhere, a Federal agent has just told him that he has been accepted into spy school. They’ve had their eyes on him for a while. He did wonderfully on the STIQ exams. What are they? He doesn’t remember taking them.
Standardized Test Inserted Questions. The CIA places them in every standardized test to asses potential espionage aptitude. You’ve gotten every one right since third grade.
So that’s pretty wild. Of course everything about Spy school is secret so he can’t even tell his parents or his best friend. They al think he’s going to a super brainy nerdy math school (Ben is a super brainy math nerd after all).
The agent, Alexander Hale, is so cool, Ben can’t wait to hang out with him. But when Alexander drops him off at school things are not good. The whole school is under red alert–there seems to have been a security breach. And Ben is now a target. Why? because even the enemy has heard about him. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
