They were called The Silent Comedy and I honestly had no idea what to expect. Normally I’d check up on an artist that’s supposed to be on the bill beforehand, but for whatever reason this time I did not. So what a pleasant surprise it was to see these guys come out and literally make me a fan before the first hook of the first song. The San Diego band is made up of two lead vocalists who are brothers—Joshua and Jeremiah Zimmerman—along with drummer Chad Lee, a rowdy guitarist/harmonica player named Tim Graves, and a banjo-man named Justin Buchanan—who by the way has an impressive handle-bar mustache that needs to be seen in person in order to be fully appreciated. Along with the vocals, Joshua plays a killer bass and Jeremiah stands behind a podium and plays the keyboard. The way he sometimes sings behind it, it’s almost as if we are in a sinner’s church. The one word that would describe their set is enthusiastic. That enthusiasm quickly carries over to the live audience, who was very much enjoying itself. Songs like “Poison,” “Road Song,” and my personal favorite, “Gasoline,” are prime examples of their folksy and fantastic rock & roll.

Once it was time for Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses, the crowed was most definitely amped up. The venue—El Ray Theatre—is an impressive former movie house turned grand ballroom that has now become one of my favorite places to watch live music. Bingham and bandmates calmly made their way to the stage, and he was wearing a slight grin as if to say “this is pretty fucking cool.”

The most perplexing thing about Ryan Bingham is his amazingly textured and unique voice. If you didn’t know who he was, and then listened to one of his songs, you’d immediately guess that he was at minimum twice his real age. In reality, he isn’t even 30 yet, but sounds as though he’s had 30+ years in the business. Another thing that instantly stood out to me, when I first began following his music, is his socially-conscious lyrical content. He is a blunt guy that inserts very political statements within his music—statements that are driven by having some common sense—the same common sense that our politicians lack in abundance, and that goes for either party.

The Dead Horses—made up of drummer Matthew Smith, bassist Elijah Ford and guitarist Corby Schaub, who also plays the mandolin—are stylistically a seamless fit for frontman Bingham. Seemingly very laid back guys, they have a way of shifting between being relatively reserved, and then as the tempo up-shifts, coming alive while they increase the pace of the music that’s being played. This usually results in a lot of the songs having extended outro’s—which is really cool for the spectator, seeing as the guys are clearly jamming out.

Songs like “Dollar a Day” and “Depression” give voice to the blue-collar workers that make up the majority of this country. In the latter, Bingham sings, “I could make some friends down at the courthouse, get bailed out and go on welfare. I’d rather lay down in a pine box, than sell my heart to a fucking wasteland.” This attitude reflects the type of substance that is present on the majority of his songs—speaking out against the social realities of a world that allows the top 1% to raid, bully and tribalize the rest of us.

The audience hushed halfway through the set as Bingham lit a cigarette, took a drag and then passed it to his drummer. This preceded the beginning chords of the haunting and beautiful “Hallelujah,” in which he narrates from the perspective of a man who is murdered at the beginning of the song. Others like “Dylan’s Hard Rain,” “Bluebird,” and “Direction of the Wind”—where Bingham sings “No time for propaganda, or a media filled with hate, no time for scripted messages that slither round like snakes, in your brain”—are personal favorites of mine, due to the meaningful lyrics attached to each.

The set closed with “Southside of Heaven,” where Bingham reflected on a man’s difficult life. The song is also one of many showcasing his ability to play the harmonica. The landscape that each song paints is instrumental in keeping each person emotionally invested. Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses are good at this, especially live, where you can feel the soul of each record reverberating through the room. A 3-song encore was given after the crowd started frantically yelling his name—including Oscar-winning “The Weary Kind” from the fantastic movie Crazy Heart—and the people definitely went home happy.

Bingham is truly the working man’s musician. His music is very Americana, and so it should appeal highly to the whole lot of us. If you’re listening to his words then you should most definitely find something that strikes a chord. It’s not perfect, over-produced music—rather the opposite, loose and less formal, but full of character. Trust me when I say that if you haven’t already invested in this guy’s catalog, do so now. He is a real musician by my personal standard—someone who is not only talented, but then uses that talent in an attempt to affect a more positive and just outcome for all of us.

Set List
Dollar a Day
Depression
The Other Side
Tell My Mother I Miss Her So
Dylan’s Hard Rain
Hard Times
Junky Star
Strange Feelin’ In The Air
Hallelujah
The Wandering
The Hobo
Direction of the Wind
Bluebird
Sunrise
Southside of Heaven
*The Weary Kind
*Sunshine
*Bread and Water

—Josh Liddy (words + photo)

OLIN AND THE MOON, THE SILENT COMEDY, AND BINGO! ON TUESDAY JAN. 11TH AT THE ECHO, 1822 WEST SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ $5/ 18+.

Download: Mississippi Man “Ricochet”

(from The Snake Oil Salesman available now from Mississippi Man)

Mississippi Man is well on their way to releasing their second EP but first they’re testing out new tunes every Monday at their November residency at the Silverlake Lounge. In between writing songs and writing residency diaries, singer and guitarist David Knight speaks about how fast the band is moving and what he misses most about the deep South. This interview by Britt Witt.

How long have you been playing the harmonica?
David Knight (guitar/vocals): I’ve been playing the harmonica since I was 10 but I didn’t really figure out how to play until I was 17 or 18. So four or five years. I definitely don’t sit down and practice—I’m not that great of a harmonica player but I can get around alright!
Who writes your residency diaries?
David Knight: I wrote the first one. We’re actually doing a residency diary thing for webinfront.net. We write once a week. I’ll probably write most of them. It’s supposed to be a diary about the residency each night. I like to write—nothing professional but I do enjoy writing. I guess its one of my strong points. It’s just something I guess I’m good at that I don’t really use.
What kind of new songs are you playing?
David Knight: Actually, it’s kinda funny—most of the songs we are playing now aren’t actually on the Snake Oil Salesman EP. We write songs really quickly and that EP came out like six months ago, so most of our stuff is all new. I think we’re working on getting money to go in and record a new EP in January at Red Rocket’s Glare—that’s where we recorded the first one. We have two vocalists—me and Luke—and we usually write together. I think something kind of unique about our band is that we have two songwriters. Most bands will have one songwriter that will tell everyone what to do—which is cool too!—but I like the way that Luke and I can just get together. Right now we’re just selling the EP that we released earlier, and then we’re planning on having a limited run of vinyl for our next EP. A lot of bands now are kind of shunning CDs now because all CDs are good for nowadays is for people to take home and put on their computers and have it on their iPod. We know a bunch of people that just buy vinyl nowadays—including myself. I think if you like collecting music, vinyl is way cooler than having a little CD, you know?
Have you ever traveled to the deep South?
David Knight: Not a bunch of times but I’d say five or six times. I’ve been to pretty much all the states—Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia. Out of all the states, I think Georgia is probably my favorite—Georgia and Tennessee. I can’t really put my finger on why I like them. I went to school in Kentucky, which isn’t really the South—people that live there don’t say it’s the South but I say it’s the South because it’s South! I just wanted to get out of California for a bit. The people there are much different, I think—everything is much slower-paced. Here everything is going on at the same time—it’s crazy. But I love it here—I’ve lived in California for my whole life.
How did it happen that five guys from Orange County all like country blues? Who is your favorite blues musician?
David Knight: This is a hard one! If I had to pick one, it would probably be Skip James. But there are so many that I love—Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. And there’s a lot of different types of blues too, like there’s the Chicago blues which is the more electric stuff and then there’s the deep south stuff which is more acoustic. I like it all though. If I had to pick, I’d probably pick the Chicago. But that’s just because its more electric, I like that. As far as the feel of the music, I’d probably pick the southern blues. We have a lot of different influences, though. Blues is just one of our influences and then me and Luke listen to a lot of sixties like British pop—the Zombies and the Kinks. So it gives our music kind of a cool sound but sometimes it can be difficult to pick out what we want the song to be—what the finished product should be like. But I think it’s cool.

MISSISSIPPI MAN IN RESIDENCY EVERY MONDAY IN NOVEMBER AT THE SILVERLAKE LOUNGE, 2906 SUNSET BLVD., SILVERLAKE. FREE / 9 PM / 21+. TONIGHT MISSISSIPPI MAN PERFORM WITH THE FLING, MAKE MOON AND THE SILENT COMEDY. FOLDSILVERLAKE.COM. MISSISSIPPI MAN’S THE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE BAND. MYSPACE.COM/MISSISSIPPIMANMUSIC.