Dave Gleason

A couple of years ago I had a happy accident when I went to see a very rare Dale Watson performance here in the Phoenix Valley. A local band opened up for him and it was my first exposure to Trophy Husbands, a group which included Dave Insley. Their album, "Dark and Bloody Ground," became one of my official "Top Ten" for that year, and it remains one of my all-time favorite albums to this day. I was listening to it again recently and came over with the desire to see if the Husbands have done anything else. I found one more album, released by another label (and I'm rather surprised I never got an advance for it, since I'm on that company's list and frequently receive unsolicited albums for review from them), and news that the Husbands have, sadly, since deteriorated. However, I was mightily pleased to find that lead man Dave Insley treks on alone, and, bonus, he was going to be at my favorite Phoenix venue, The Rhythm Room, that very week.

So I was considering heading over for the show when I get a note from Take Country Back telling me that Dave Gleason would also be there that night, and would I be interested in going? Heck, I was already thinking about it. I'd just gotten Gleason's album advance and I liked it, so now I had two reasons for going over to the show. I declined the offer of being put on the guest list, because to be honest, I don't mind paying a small cover charge to help support independent artists, not to mention to let said favorite venue know I like seeing names like this play there.

The Rhythm Room was formerly primarily a blues club and it retains blues artists pretty much exclusively on the weekends, but during the week it's become the only place in Phoenix to really hear Americana and Roots acts. I've seen some of the cream of Americana playing that stage, from Jesse Dayton to Roger Wallace (and I've tried a couple of times to lure Dale Watson back to play the Room, 'cause everyone I've talked to agrees that's where he should be). Now, happily, I can add some more to that cream.

Dave Gleason started the show promptly at nine (or so) with just himself and his guitar (sans the Wasted Days), letting go with a rough-voiced clarity of sound on Gene Clark's "Kansas City Southern." Gleason's sure-fingered picking drew magic out of that plain acoustic Martin, pure magic. With his shaggy-cropped blond hair, wearing his sunglasses on his head and California casuals, Gleason sure doesn't look like a cowboy singer. But he sings like one, and that's the key. He's a Don-Rich-inspired Bakersfield-style singer, California/Bay Area laid-back style with the pure earnestness of the denizens of the Tulare dust.

Unfortunately for those of us there to listen to the music, Gleason's acoustic set was tremendously disturbed by a table of very loud people who were probably annoyed that the performance was interfering with their conversation. Gleason didn't appear to be bothered by it, but my table companion and I were, and I'm pretty sure the couple at the table near us were, too, since I saw them casting a few dirty looks in that direction. Still, Gleason's professionalism overcame, and he produced a fantastic 45-minute set, including several songs from his new album "Midnight California," including that impressive title track and such winners as "Listen to the Wind." He wrapped up his set with a pretty darned awesome cover of "Ain't Livin' Long Like This," letting his rough-hewn vocals and his fantastic picking do all the talking that needed to be done.

Then Gleason handed the acoustic over to Dave Insley, picked up a white Telecaster, and joined his buddy as lead guitarist. Insley took the mic and rhythm guitar, tossed in bass and drums, and these guys laid down the joint with one of Insley's new songs, "There's Gonna Be A Few Changes Around Here." The full band overwhelmed the talkers, and the rest of the evening was pure gold. Dave Gleason proved to be a picker worthy to join my personal mental list of "guitar gods," up there with Jesse Dayton and Pete Anderson (who, oddly enough, I'll be seeing on that same stage in just a couple of days). He makes that Telecaster stand up and dance, playing with that same laid-back ease as he performed his own set, but with the intensity that only the guitar gods seem to get when they're communing with their singular, six-stringed lover. I could watch those fingers all night. I am at turns awed and captivated by guitarists who make it look so thoroughly effortless.

Insley is a personable performer, at ease with himself, with his bandmates, and with his audience. He sings his songs with a clever wit and thoroughly unique style, blending western country and rockabilly effortlessly. As an Arizonan myself (like Insley, I wasn't born here, but I've lived here long enough to have assimilated completely), I give him special credit for using "Hassayampa" and "Picacho" in a loving tribute tune to the Phoenix valley and surrounding area titled "Maricopa Mountains." With his amazing baritone voice, Insley is a thoroughly remarkable performer, quite obviously someone who is doing something he really enjoys. It shows in his work, the music that's so obviously a part of his blood.

After another 45-minute (or so) set, Tucson legend Al Perry arrived on the scene and did a solid set of his own cowboy tunes and a few covers in a style which is somewhere between Buck Owens and the Beach Boys. Perry has been a fixture of the Tucson music scene for decades and has a catalog that extends so far back we witnessed a fan bring him up an actual LP (that's one of them black vinyl creatures from long ago) for an autograph on the cover. Perry, too, does wonders with the Telecaster, but he pulled Gleason back up to play with him, and the "twin Teles" was a sight (and sound) to witness.

To cap off the evening, Perry got Insley back up on the stage with him and the trio gave up a little more than a half-hour of songs they just wanted to sing, which consisted mainly of Buck and Merle tunes. An entire night of Bakersfield-inspired honky-tonkin'? Did someone actually try to tailor-make a night for me, or what? A tip of the hat to Insley for taking the floor a couple times during Perry's set, including a round with me, during which we both apologized to each other for not knowing how to dance, but at least it was enthusiastic. Not to mention fun.

It's selfish of me to be glad, in many ways, that Americana has not reached the mainstream, and hardcore country faded away from it. In many ways I hope it stays this way, because I so very much enjoy these shows where I can pay a cover charge, have a few beers, and get to really see and hear artists of this calibre on a small stage from only a few feet away, where they can make a personal connection to their audience. I like being able to just walk up to someone I admire and shake their hand and let 'em know how great they are. While I would love to seem 'em packing those stadiums, selfishly enough, I'm glad they're still playing the honky-tonks. Some of the "big name" hardcore acts I've seen in bigger places do better in joints like this, too, personally speaking.

The threesome did another show the next night down in Patagonia (down south of Tucson), and it's a shame I couldn't get up the gas money to go, 'cause it was really tempting to follow. Gleason and Insley are going to be showing up together at a couple more places in California, and they'll be touring separately, as well. Check their websites for tour information. Gleason's new album, "Midnight California," is currently available, and Insley's new release, "Call Me Lonesome," will be out soon.

http://www.dave_gleason.com/

http://www.daveinsley.com/index.htm

http://www.tucsonunderground.com/legends/alperry/

Kathy Coleman Take Country Back April 2004

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