Truth & Salvage Co. is THE American Band
This past Thursday, I was on a flight bound from Phoenix to Charlotte as part of my path back home to Connecticut. I had just co-presented a session on Social Media to over 200 franchisees. I was in the middle seat, relaxed and enjoying my iPod, with two females on either side of me. I happened to notice that the older of my two neighbors was wearing some type of wrist watch device that said something about “pain control” on it, with about five numbered lights. Within the first hour of the flight, I noticed her adjusting it several times and it was obvious to me that she was intentionally trying to control her breathing, apparently because of, or in relationship to her pain. I noticed when we started the flight she was at a “2” on the pain watch, but an hour later she was at a four.
With purchasing my $7 turkey croissant sandwich from the airline steward, I also received a strawberry yogurt. Since neither of my new neighbors had purchased food, and yogurt is not exactly ideal for my diet, I offered the cup to the elder of the two ladies first. “Sorry, but I can’t eat that” was her reply. And with that she went back to fiddling with her pain watch and maintaining her breathing. The younger female accepted my free yogurt, but only after noticing that it did come with a spoon that was still hermetically sealed by USAir. She went back to enjoying my yogurt and her DVD box set of The Office.
About half-way through our three and half hour flight, we all seemed to make a round -trip to the bathroom around the same time. Afterward, I was breaking out my iPod at the same time as the woman in pain was breaking out hers. I said “Do you want to hear the best song of the year?” She smiled and complied with this large, insane man with shorts and hairy legs sitting next to her. Still a bit perplexed by my offer, I added, “here, just plug your headphones in” and I handed her my iPod. Now, my iPod is the classic – not the newly labeled “Classic” but the one that is actually pre-“classic”. It’s thick, heavy, basically a 60GB portable drive with a gloss black finish. Or at least it had a gloss black finish until I covered it with protective gel skins of Hunter Thompson’s artist for hire, Ralph Steadman. Which, I guess if you’ve never seen Steadman’s work before, probably looks like someone’s nightmare, but I digress.
After my neighbor in pain plugged into my iPod, I pressed play and she listened to “Jump The Ship” by a new band called Truth & Salvage Co. in its entirety. I had only discovered this new band about two weeks prior when they opened for the Black Crowes at the Klien auditorium in Bridgeport, CT. We had arrived just as the band was starting. And while we were busy getting our drinks and finding our seats, we were continuously, and joyously, distracted by this large ensemble band on stage with this wonderful full sound and widely ranging musical abilities. By the time we sat down they were already half-way into their set, but we were stunned with the vocal abilities of the individuals as well as their ability to harmonize.
After watching about three songs performed it was clear that they didn’t have a lead singer, they had FOUR lead singers, all of which were multi-talented with other instruments as well. Now to say a band, opening for the Black Crowes is multi-talented is probably not much of a statement, but this was truly superior talent. Over the next few days I would describe them to others as akin to seeing “The Band” in early 70’s or maybe the Eagles in the late ‘70’s. Picture a large group of guys, each of whom could probably front their own band, but as a group make a powerful and impressive rock/country sound. Following their performance we scurried back to the merch table, bought their four track CD for $5 and signed up for their email list (as least someone is making sure they are on track with email marketing!).
In the days that have followed that performance, I’ve visited the bands website, became a fan of them on Facebook and consumed those four songs on that CD on a daily basis. I visit their blog on occasion to watch them tour the US with the Crowes and truly enjoy reading stories about busted eyes due to bar fights (is it infected - maybe not?). I had heard in a recent radio interview with the band, that five of them gradually moved from the hills of Asheville, NC to the streets of L.A. to find their fame and fortune. There they discovered two more band members and went from The Family Band, apparently a Prince owned mark, to The Truth & Salvage Company. Their debut album, produced by Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, will be released in early 2010. In the meantime, their four songs are available through iTunes and they seem heavily focused on “Call Back” and “Welcome to L.A.” as the singles they are self-promoting. “Call Back” is a bit too near to a Blues Traveler sound for me to be comfortable with and my concern is, that given their close ties with Mr. Black Crowes (they have the same manager as well), that the Truth & Salvage Co. will be lumped into a “jam band” kind of category with so many others out there.
I’m not sure if these guys will be the next big thing or not (nor do I care), but I do love their music. I love the fact that they get into bar fights and have performed on stage with Levon Helm. That’s what real American rock bands should do; drink, fight, drugs on occasion, women often and play the hell of their instruments leaving a trail of fans behind. Back in the van it’s about tattoos and someone’s smelly shoes. They have caught the attention of Bruce Springsteen and probably many more. I love the idea that a bunch of them left home to find their fame and fortune, and are now actually working toward that end. And I truly hope that a single simple song, like “Jump The Ship” being played by a stranger on a plane can make someone feel better.
“It’s feelin’ pretty magical”
-pjc