Emma Gibbs Band Populist, Predictable

The Emma Gibbs Band
Cat's Cradle

The Emma Gibbs Band, a group of country-rock road warriors from Winston-Salem, proved its mettle Friday night with a solid performance at a nearly empty Cat's Cradle.

While the show suffered from a lack of variety and spice, the band persevered without apology and with admirable tenacity.

But it must be noted that two significant problems faced the group before it ever even took the stage: a surprising lack of attendance for a Friday night show at the Cradle -- a discouraging prospect for any band -- and an ill-suited introduction from an opening act that played music in a distinctly different vein, surprising what viewers there were at the venue.

One Year Later, a five-piece pop-rock group from Charlotte, opened the show with a set of tightly constructed but unoriginal rock 'n' roll songs.

Despite this out-of-context introduction, the Emma Gibbs Band took the stage with confidence, immediately displaying its best and most noticeable feature -- a unique instrumentation and sound.

On top of the rhythm-section trio of drummer Lauren Myers, bassist Bill Reynolds and guitarist Richard Upchurch, the group added Will Straughan on mandolin and lap steel, with Brent Buckner on harmonica for a deeper, more textured feel.

The latter two musicians both defined the band's organic tone and contributed the most dynamic and musically impressive playing of the evening.

The group's sound was an effective blend of country, folk and bluegrass, all set within the frame of rock sensibility. Vocal delivery was impressive, with Straughan and Upchurch taking turns singing lead and backup parts, weaving in and out of each other.

Both men have clear, sweet tenor voices. Their harmonized lines in many of the choruses conveyed bittersweet nostalgia for an era past.

But the performance began to suffer after an hour as the band exhausted its songsheet and subsequently its ability to perform songs that sounded distinct from one another.

The musical catalog seemed to consist purely of two-beat bluegrass-inspired numbers and slower folk-rock tunes. Both formulas worked well at first but were abused in the end.

Lyrically, the band suffered from the same malady -- an obsession with motion and travel characterized too much of the songwriting. Repeated images of trains, highways and loneliness at first sounded mature but became contrived by the end.

The vibe of the entire show was encapsulated in the lyrics "I've got my motor running/I've got miles under my wheels," or "I've come a long, long way/ But I know I've got a long, long way to go."

But even formulaic songwriting couldn't ruin the evening, as the band displayed its apathy for attendence. The band's unique aesthetic was traditional but with a relevant, modern edge. The emotions the group expressed were real, even if they weren't particularly diverse.

The Emma Gibbs Band is not a group of flashy performers, but its travels have increased its credibility.

Underneath the weariness lies an enviable wisdom about music, art and people.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.