For fifteen years Erika Wennerstrom has been the powerful voice and leader of Austin, Texas-based rockers the Heartless Bastards. Recently, she decided to take things in a different direction with her debut solo album, Sweet Unknown, and on Tuesday, May 1 she brought the new material to Portland for a show at the Doug Fir Lounge.
Mixing high and lonesome crooning in Texas fashion a la Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Townes Van Zandt with laid back humor and silly jokes a la Matthew McConaughey, Josh T Pearson got the night going in front of a small crowd that grew by the end of his set. In some ways, Pearson seemed to be a comedian masquerading as a Texas troubadour, and a damn good one at that. His fingers danced up and down his fret board, creating a range of sound effects to add texture to his croon. Perpetually squinting like a sheriff facing the Texas sun, Pearson cracked subtle jokes and played his “straight hits” about looking for love or losing it, even adding humor and wordplay in with tunes like “Stillborn to Rock”. Though the crowd seemed a bit skeptical at first, by the end of his set Pearson had them laughing at his jokes and tapping their feet to his quiet and moving songs.
Donning a bright blue pantsuit, Erika Wennerstrom took the stage in fine spirits. Though Sweet Unknown is technically a solo album, Wennerstrom brought along a talented band of young musicians to back her up as she made her way through all of the album’s songs and then some. Compared to her songs in Heartless Bastards, the solo material felt like a major work of self reflection, as if Wennerstrom needed to reconcile with herself. The twangy guitar on songs like “Letting Go” and “Like a Bird” shined live and seemed to take on a sort of cosmic folk sound. With her unmistakable, soulful voice always front and center, Wennerstrom looked inward and seemed to be reaching for a higher spiritual plane, and her voice took on more angelic qualities with the harmonizing of her backup singer. She exuded a sense of inner calm and relief when singing the new songs as if she was truly getting something off her chest.
While the solo material definitely shined, there were other special moments in the show. It was especially moving to see Wennerstrom pay tribute to Townes Van Zandt with her take on “Be Here to Love Me” only to follow it up with the dreamy solo acoustic tune “A Beautiful Life”, which felt like a comfy, porch-sitting song. She also invited up two fiddle players and Chris Funk of the Decemberists to join her on banjo for the Heartless Bastards favorite “Had to Go”. The two fiddlers stayed onstage for “Time”, a poppier, up-tempo song that stands out on the solo album as one of the more danceable tunes. Wennerstrom would close out the night on a slightly different yet triumphant note, covering the Rolling Stones classic “Paint It Black” with the help of the fiddle players, Chris Funk, and none other than Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, who looked in his element smiling wide and wildly strumming his electric guitar. The rambunctious cover to cap the show proved that, even though she may be doing some quieter self reflection with her solo songs, Erika Wennerstrom still loves to rock and roll.
All photos by Greg Homolka.
