Regional singer songwriter Seville takes his comic one man brand band to the small BV stage. Perfect warmup act for HOT. Seville looks to be 50ish with some hard years tacked on to the hard miles of New England troubadouring. His signature tune High and Lonesome is less Wild West machismo and more I’m high and lonesome. He quips that his ex-girlfriend is a “relationship coach”, let that sink in. His tongue in cheek trans critique Son of a Sonofabitch gave a chuckle to the WPKN wrangled crowd. Seville told a funny story about a losing audition at a CT juke joint, he lost to a digeridooist. The intersong banter was great, at one point Seville mused that “you need a license to catch a fish, but anyone can procreate”. His new tune, “Seeing Double” at the end of the singles bar, seemed sadly autobiographical.
Austin based, former Buffalo NY juvenile delinquent Ed Hamell, is a folk punk dervish who assaults crowds under the moniker Hamell On Trial. His solo shtick was speedier and raunchier than Seville, but the tropes were similar. Love, relationships, substance abuse, legal brouhahas, seedy sketchiness, seem to infect the output. A political undercurrent also runs through many songs. The set starts with the Xmas ode Rudolph which quickly devolves into a reindeer therapy session. His poignant ditty “Safe” has Hamell stating that his shows are friendly meeting places to all varieties of square pegs. Another tune was about “3 drug- related incidences” that are absolutely true. A redwood sized spliff from some hitchhikers, using prayer as a means of turning kitty litter into crack, and snorting some yellow powder found in a floating briefcase while fishing off the keys. Instead of a 3 hour cocaine tour, the slacker fishermen located a crematorium medallion in their decidedly dud booty. Hamell spoke on parenting, his son Detroit just graduated from NYU film school. Hamell and Detroit have written a “play” where Hamell tirades are interrupted by video snippets from Detroit’s camera. One sequence had Hamell strumming a tune where he urged the subject to “do the right thing, and kill yourself”, applicable to Mitch McConnell, MTG, or any other right wing wacko that should disappear. The audience participation section had Hamell urging the crowd to yell “Fuck It” at the top of our lungs which was oddly cathartic. Shout out to Little Acorn Productions a new endeavor by a local kook to bring music you’d want to see to venues you’d want to support. Hamell is pals with another Buffalo square peg, Ani Difranco, who has a similar machine gun delivery. I’m fascinated with lyrics that straddle comedy and outsider life, Seville and Hamell are both excellent purveyors.
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