Bobby Bare Jr. can finger pick with the best of them. His vocal twang, his near-yodel falsetto, and his turn of phrase make for some enjoyable show-going. But when he’s got a fully-powered backing band to fill out his sound, there’s not a more exciting show to be found on the small(er) stage.
Bobby Bare Jr., son of Bobby Bare — who’s had his own storied and fruitful career in country music — was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s been playing music in one capacity or another his entire life (having been nominated for a grammy at age 5 for the song “Daddy What If” that he performed with his father). And his command of the stage demonstrates his lifelong devotion to the craft.
Dressed in flannel and jeans, with a wild, unkempt, curly mop of hair and a couple months of unshaven growth around the southern end of his face, the man’s not what one would call “model pretty.” But the charisma he oozes on stage, and that gravelly-when-low but smooth-when-high voice emanating from deep within the hairy mass begs for a redefinition of beauty.
Bobby has performed more than a few times in Seattle (having seen him at least nine times myself since 2004), and quite a few of those performances have been on the lovely Tractor Tavern stage. Much like many of those performances, he kicked it off with his lone-man-on-stage performance of “Mehan,” a song that immediately demonstrates his vocal talents. Jesse Bates, the pedal steel player from the opener Blue Giant came out to join Bobby in performing the beautiful “Mayonnaise Brain.” And then came the rock.
The rest of Blue Giant, who had performed one hell of an opening set, came out on stage and sat down at their various instruments. And with the always amazing Anita Robinson on lead guitar, they deftly plowed through most every rocking song from Bobby’s catalog. With a few choice numbers from his newest album, A Storm, A Tree, My Mother’s Head, and more than a few from his back catalog, the rather drunken crowd felt the draw to holler along as best they could.
The band performed together as if they had been playing together for an eternity. With Anita Robinson’s bluesy guitar solos to fill out every song, I left the night hoping Blue Giant would adopt the Young Criminals Starvation League name, and tour with Bobby forever. Waking up the next morning, I came to my senses, knowing I’d better hold on to these memories, as it won’t happen quite this way ever again.
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