Stage Talk with Rick Koster
Where every show has something to say.
There are a few bands whose live performances are so consistently fantastic they transcend any preferred stylistic categorization in the eyes and ears of the audience.
So it is with Nashville’s self-described “rag-tag old-time string band” Old Crow Medicine Show. Maybe you’re a metal head, or into West Coast jazz or punk or Britpop — no matter. Go see Old Crow Medicine Show and dance and shout yourself hoarse and, when it’s over, think, “That’s one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen.”
On Dec. 18, Old Crow returns to the Garde, joined by fiddle superstar Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, for a special “Holiday Hootenanny.” This tour celebrates not only the season but also the release of OCMS XMAS, the band’s first yule-centric album.
Unlike most Christmas recordings, the Crows’ effort features mostly original material including such evocatively titled fare as “Corn Whiskey Christmas,” “Bethlehem, PA” and “Krampus Night.”
One of the album’s few covers, though, is a moving rendition of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” which features charming harmonies from the children of the Episcopal School of Nashville. Their performances are an inspired touch, and not just because the school was founded 13 years ago by Old Crow frontman Ketch Secor.
As Secor recently told The Nashvillian, he envisioned “a beautiful little school, filled with kids from all the diverse backgrounds. It would be a community school with a focus on service learning and bring families together from across Nashville to share in building a place for kids unlike any other in our city. It was a vibrant dream, and I couldn’t shake it. I decided that the dream was such a plausible one that maybe, just maybe, it could even come true.”
If that doesn’t fill you with the spirit of Christmas, well, you need to make sure you’re in the Garde for Old Crow’s “Holiday Hootenanny” with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. You’ll dance and scream yourself hoarse and, when it’s all over, Grinchy, your heart might just grow three sizes.