The Bowmans/Kris Gruen show this past Friday ended up being one of the best shows that I've attended all year. Outside Montpelier's cooperatively owned coffee house was the first snow of the year. Inside was warm, comfortable, and exciting. I caught only the last two songs by The Bowmans, but little was heard as the time was spent talking to friends and settling into my first Organic Oatmeal Stout. Soon after Kris took the stage along with a full 4 piece band. The music was much fuller and expressive then his debut album, Lullaby School, - my head full of comparisons with Jeff Buckley (without the 90s era grunge and rediculous vocal range) and Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams (minus any hint of pretention and a more prominent blues base to accompany the alt-country twang). I found myself wanting to take back the original "folk" label and replacing it with...I don't know...Americana Rock? That doesn't seem right at all. But the show was far more then a dude and a guitar.
For me it was pretty close to perfect.

False45th should have video and a write-up in the near future.

From Lullaby School
Kris Gruen - Tender Theory.mp3
Kris Gruen - In The Clearing.mp3
Kris Gruen - Further Down.mp3