Spring is here ' for real this time ' and with it comes a tangible excitement about getting out and having a good time. In Athens, this impulse is often translated into porch parties and backyard debauchery, but I hope some of that enthusiasm will spill into the bars and coffee shops of Athens, where top-notch entertainment is lined up for the rest of the quarter. Here is the best of the best for this week.
J.D. Hutchison, Zeb Dewar, Chris Biester; 9 p.m. Saturday; Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St. ' All three of these guys are legendary, even the youngest among them, Dewar, whose backwoods genius is culminating in an album recorded with Southeast Engine as his backing band during the winter. If the perfectionist ever lets it see the light of day, word is it's going to be a masterpiece.
Hutchison is the most famous of the trio, having composed innumerable bluegrass and folk tunes over the years, including songs performed by Alison Krauss and Robert Earl Keen. More than four decades into his career, he is one of the few local musicians known outside of Athens County.
Biester is perhaps best known as the front man for late-'80s and '90s grunge forecasters Appalachian Death Ride, whose sludgy sound presented a rural take on contemporaries Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr. Solo, Biester remains raw and uncompromising, one of those captivating presences that causes us music journalists to fumble through descriptors such as authentic and the real deal.
The Lab Rats, Chris McCoy and the Gospel, Salvage; 10 p.m. Saturday; O'Hooley's, 24 W. Union St. ' What a shame that three fine Columbus acts should share a stage together with no local support, and on the night before Easter no less. Let's hope that not everybody is going home like me, as these bands are worth your attention.
The Lab Rats are a duo making thrift shop hip hop
featuring DJ KW, who adds the keyboards and percussion while Brian Brown raps with a guitar in his hand. Though the band's recordings don't show off its instrumental prowess, it showcases a first-rate hip-hop pedigree: infectious beats under intelligent rhymes, especially on Get Your Shit Together.
Chris McCoy and the Gospel and Salvage complete an utterly diverse bill. McCoy's band, featuring guitarist Matt Wagner of Athens regulars The Bygones, crafts heartfelt Americana tinged with the occasional lap steel and accordion. Salvage doesn't mess with any of that extraneous instrumentation, presenting straight-up three-piece hard rock that encompasses everything from Slayer to Nirvana.
Enon; 10 p.m. Monday; The Union, 18 W. Union St. ' These East Coast elites claim Brooklyn and Philadelphia as dual home bases, but they have roots in Ohio. Named for a western Ohio town, the band sprung from the aftermath of Dayton legends Brainiac after that band's front man, Timmy Taylor, died in a car accident. Guitarist John Schmersal carried on, founding a band that is just as schizophrenic and invigorating as its predecessor. Enon drapes its spazzy rock tunes with electronic flourishes as Schmersal and Toko Yasuda trade vocals. The band has not yet eclipsed its artistic high point, 2002's High Society a set of songs injected with Ritalin and neon. But the show is sure to be a knockout, a preview of a dystopian future where robots teach humans how to dance.
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Chris DeVille
