Daniel Mason, Silver Creek Revival, and Rachel Brooke at Tip Top Deluxe, 5/7/2023

 Holy smokes, folks.  I got to see an amazing show last night at the Tip Top Deluxe in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Title says it all - Daniel Mason and Silver Creek Revival played as openers for Rachel Brooke as headliner...well, except for when Daniel joined Rachel for a bluegrass set.

Daniel Mason hails from Alabama, where he learned classic country and bluegrass from a very young age.  By 16, he picked up a banjo and started studying the styles of Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Charlie Cushman, and Leroy Troy.  By 2008, he was touring with Hank Williams, III; an influence which absolutely lives on in his solo touring career.  Daniel opened his set with 3 original songs on guitar, then pivoted to banjo before closing his set on guitar again.  Tattoos, a huge red beard, and a signature tight-curled cowboy hat was all it took for this one man to dominate the stage - his stage presence was second to none!  Odd coincidence going back to Hank III - Hank was my first real concert back in 2006; then in 2014, I was able to see Joe Buck (bassist to Hank III) play a solo show at the Tip Top Deluxe.  Anyway, Daniel's music definitely bordered on Southern Gothic without being too dark; danced around traditional bluegrass without feeling played out; and had the pensiveness and contemplation of really good classic country.  I hope I didn't miss something at the show last night, but I wish there was a way to throw him a few bucks for some merch or a CD or something!  Check him out on a few places around teh intarnetz!

Silver Creek Revival is a 5-piece band out of northwest lower Michigan - Traverse City area.  Ashley played banjo and sang; Hannah played sax and flute, and provided some stunning vocal harmonies to Ashley; Sam sang a few songs that needed a Jason Isbell-esque voice; Jack grooved out on the drumset and looked like he was having the time of his life; Zak brought up the low end on bass guitar and honestly, kept it tight AF.  If I may be so bold, Hannah on sax and flute added a whole new level to the groovey, folksy bluegrass roots.  I hope I'm not diminishing the rest of the band when I say that the woodwinds elevated everything and made it special.  Check out their music here, and more information over here!

Rachel Brooke is a name that has been floating around my subconscious for quite a while now, so it's hard to pin down where I actually heard of her the first time.  She's the 2023 Outlaw Female Entertainer Of The Year from the Ameripolitan Music Awards.  She's from Michigan, of course, and has a lot of dates and shows around the Tip Top and other venues across West Michigan.  I haven't found her name mentioned in Hippies And Cowboys nor in Walking The Floor podcasts, so I can't have heard of her from either of those (which are usually my good sources for new music).  I don't have any MP3's of her downloaded, so she wasn't in the blogrings I followed back in the day.  Her music is simply orbiting around me in an intangible, most probably algorithm-driven way (nothing is coincidence, everything is driven by robots all hail our robot overlords).  I posted on Instagram that Rachel was Miranda Lambert meets Patsy Cline, and I'll stand by that!  Her voice has the edge of Miranda's; knowing and wise, but won't hesitate to call your shit.  The background music has the cleeeeeeeeaaaaan Countrypolitan sound of Patsy Cline - her band is seriously talented!  She's got a knowing cynicism, shown in the shirt she wore which read "Middle Age Crazy," and came across as being wizened with time and cognizant of Gen X or Gen Y nihilism.  Since Delilah DeWylde has seemingly relocated up north, Rachel just might be my go-to badass rockabilly babe band...