Band to Watch
Truth & Salvage Co.
The sextet of T&S Co.
New York, New Friends, New Band: Truth & Salvage Co.
You know how it starts- your friend has a friend who's in this band and they're really cool and you gotta meet them and he can hook you up. Yada, yada, yada. Ok. Whatever...
It was over cocktails on the sultry boho patio of New York's Bowery Hotel that I first met "the band". From sip one, it was all a little cliché- bearded rockstars in plaid shirts teetering on the edge of extradition from the chic establishment that both appreciated and scorned their raucous entourage. (The scene was complete with a Penny Lane-esque lanky blond in acid washed taper jeans- the birthday girl -singing loudly to the tunes in her head.) Typical of traveling bands, the boys raised harmless, jubilant hell on that chic East Village patio lounge but retired to comparatively more modest tour digs at the Newark Holiday Inn.
As I assessed them from the confines of that crowded lounge couch, I couldn't decide what to make of them. By the next evening, however, I would fall in love.
Yes, its time you knew about Truth & Salvage Co.
The L.A.-based T&S Co. is an Americana sextet of songwriters, seducers, crooners, cajolers, rogue troubadours and downright good looking men. A friendly, down-to-earth assortment, they win your graces early but it's when they take the stage that they really take your heart. They opened for The Black Crowes (Chris Robinson produced T&S's EP) and The Levon Helm Band at Central Parks Summerstage, only the seventh stop on their fall Stuck Inside Utopia Tour.
A product of the South, I've hung my hat in Alabama, Texas, North Carolina and now Georgia. I harbor nostalgia for 1981 Ford Broncos, red clay roads, deep drawls, mountain porchfront living and Waylon Jennings. So there is a certain irony in the fact that I bore witness to a trifecta of Southern and Americana rock goodness in the midst of Central Park, that a girl of my roots and associations would find Southern testimony in New York City.
Amid the American Elm (a dying breed) and peering skyscrapers, Truth & Salvage Co. kicked off a powerful, soul shaking night of music at the intimate Summerstage at Central Park. They played earnestly, honestly and harmoniously with four (count 'em four) songwriters / lead singers on tracks like the Americana-goes-West "Welcome to LA" and "Hail, Hail", the backwoods party hole answer to the Irish ballad.
Late summer and early autumn mingled on the wind as the sun set on the faces of the band, including Bill "Smitty" Smith on drums and vocals, Joe Edel on bass, Adam Grace on the organ, Walker Young (sigh) on piano and vocals, Tim Jones on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Scott Kinnebrew on lead guitar and vocals. You could tell the boys loved what they were doing. The growing crowd loved them too. As they took the stage for their last ballad, I overheard a neighbor's sentiments, "The drummer really endeared himself to me over the last few tracks."
At the very least, my soul was stirred, Southern-style, which made the next day's return to Georgia a little bit easier to digest. It's never easy saying goodbye to new friends. (Or New York City.) But at least in the case of music you can take something back with you. From our meager beginnings at the Bowery, to their musical crescendo at Central Park, to the latenight goodbyes from a jukebox bar in the Lower East Side (yes,we completed the cliche' and hung with them after the show), my shortlived affair with Truth & Salvage Co. has left me with a new romantic affection for the sounds of my heritage and a new beloved hobby band to follow up the ladder to greatness.
-by Summer Teal Simpson
** Find their new work on the Black Crowes Silver Arrow/Megaforce Records and catch them with The Levon Helm Band and The Crowes at destinations across the country this fall.
LINKS:
TRUTH & SALVAGE CO.
iTunes
Official Website
Band Blog
Myspace
