posted by Matt on April 3, 2011
The Head and the Heart at Lustre Pearl, SXSW 2011. Photo by Leigh Celent.
One of the best shows that I saw at SXSW this year was an accident. Patrick and I decided to park for the night at Antone’s after some delicious Korean fried rice from a food truck on 5th Street (seriously, get the egg on top.) Okkervil River was headlining and we were both interested in seeing Yellow Ostrich as well. But all that anyone standing in line to get in wanted to talk about was the first act on the bill–The Head and the Heart–who hails from my home town of Seattle but whom, to my chagrin, I had never heard of. Kind of folk-y, I was told. Is the wisdom of the line ever wrong? They certainly weren’t here –the Head and the Heart’s six piece band is anchored by three vocalists (Josiah Johnson, Jon Russell and Charity Thielen) whose beautiful tripartite harmonies are grounded by a piano and a heavy beat. The lyrics are at times hopeful and at times wistful, but never overwrought. The band performs together masterfully–from soft acoustic harmonies to solid driving bass, they were controlled but so clearly having a great time that the crowd was entranced.
May you have such fortune should you head to Austin, and in the meantime, check out The Head and the Heart if they are playing near you. Their 2010 self-titled and self-released EP is set for re-release on Sub Pop on April 16th. In the meantime, you can get a taste of The Head and the Heart live from their KEXP set–in an Austin bike shop–below.
p.s. While Antone’s was not ultimately my favorite venue at SXSW (that prize goes to a church), I want to give a shout out to venues that set up their stages such that the crowd is broad and shallow as opposed to long and narrow, if that makes any sense. The result at Antone’s was that more of the crowd was able to see the enthusiasm in the facial expressions of all of the artists on stage, making even a mediocre performance (which this was most definitely not) more enjoyable.
The Head and the Heart – Down In The Valley (Downloaded 452 times)
The Head and the Heart – Lost In My Mind (Downloaded 700 times)
The Head and the Heart – Live at SXSW 2011 (KEXP show) (Downloaded 184 times)
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» Meaningless labels: Big Sound • Folk • Harmonic • Male vocal
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