Mar 19
Charlie Sizemore Band packs Illinois pub
The Charlie Sizemore Band on stage at the Iron Post in Urbana, IL. March 15, 2008. Sizemore (guitar), Matt Despain (resonator guitar), Danny Barnes (mandolin), John Pennell (bass) and Barry Crabtree (Banjo) sitting in.Website:
Charlie Sizemore Band
I’d never seen Charlie Sizemore perform previous to this past weekend when he and his very capable bandmates, known collectively as The Charlie Sizemore Band, showed up in the far-back 40 of my home in central Illinois.
I’d heard some of his material before, in particular the 1996 CD, “In My View,” and his latest Rounder release “Good News,” which came out last year. Many of the offerings on those two CDs were several shades on the plus side of darn good stuff. I was particularly mezmerized by “Keep Me from Blowing Away,” a Paul Craft song that’s on “In My View.” That particular song had been covered a few light years ago by Linda Ronstadt, and I’ve been captivated by the haunting melody, its chords and melancholy lyrics since my first introduction to it.
Last October, my son caught Sizemore and company at a Nashville, Tenn., showcase during the International Bluegrass Music Association convention. He called shortly after hearing that show and getting a few moments to chat with Sizemore with a fair amount of excitement in his voice. My son reminded me of a description I had used years ago to describe some CD or vocal undertaking on some CD. I had described that particular performance as one “bucket of guts,” meaning all the emotion in the world had been poured from that performer’s soul into his work. Ugly as it sounds, I meant “bucket of guts” to be a good thing, an off-the-wall compliment, if you will.
Regardless, that’s the term my son used after seeing The Charlie Sizemore Band during IBMA week: “He’s just one huge bucket of guts, dad.”
So, based on that description and my exposure to Sizemore through the two above-named CDs, I was anxious to hear this guy spill his bucket of guts at my feet. He didn’t disappoint.
Sizemore brought his band and show to the Iron Post in downtown Urbana, Ill., home of the University of Illinois. It’s also the hometown of John Pennell, Sizemore’s bassist and a highly decorated bluegrass and country songwriter — not to mention a charter member of Alison Krauss’s very first Union Station. (Krauss also calls the Champaign-Urbana area her home.)
The Iron Horse is probably considered roomy on any given night when locals provide the music from the small corner stage. On this particular night … mmmmh, the term “can of sardines” comes to mind. One of the bar’s employees told me that when Pennell is in town with a band, the place is always packed, as it was Saturday when patrons were lining the walls and even sitting on the floor IF they could find a spot to peer through the tables and sets of legs to catch a glimpse of the band.
I was lucky. We — that’s me and group of friends so close I call them all family — arrived early and latched on to two tables next to the bandstand. What I really mean to say is this: I was really lucky, because Charlie Sizemore and his band kept us very well entertained — from the last part of the sound check that we caught until the final banjo note of the encore, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” had drifted through the small bar and out the door to dance in the wet snow that was falling on Race Street that runs in front of the venue.
Whatever, I walked away from the little campus-town bar Saturday night, not thinking “bucket of guts” at all. No, this guy’s got more polish than that. Perhaps, anatomically speaking, “heart and soul” would be more appropriate.
Sizemore ended his show with the oft-heard “I hope you all had a good a time as we did …” but then he added, “I really mean it. We really did have a good time here with you.”
And it showed. Sizemore was truly there FOR the audience, and he gave and gave and gave. He had us smiling, maybe even laughing, with tunes such as “I Want My Rib Back” and “The Less That I Drink.” He had the crowd from Alison Krauss’s hometown howling with his current hit, “Alison’s Band.” But then, he had us listening intently, with nary a smile on our faces, with the aforementioned “Keep Me From Blowing Away” and “The Silver Bugle,” a tune on the new CD about a Civil War skirmish in Kentucky and the legend that grew out of the battle. And, yes, he put goose bumps on the back of my neck with a particular soulful rendition of Tom T. Hall’s “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.”
Sizemore has fun on stage — with the audience and with his band. And good pickers they are — Pennell on solid bass, Danny Barnes on mandolin and occasionally clawhammer banjo, and Matt DeSpain on resophonic guitar. On this particular outing, the band’s regular banjo picker, an ailing Wayne Fields, was replaced by Barry Crabtree, one of the founding members of Wildfire. Crabtree’s agressive, driving style added just an extra ounce (pound?) of pizazz to the show.
I also sensed there was more than just “fun” involved with Sizemore’s performance. His day job as an attorney with his own practice would lead one to believe there’s a lot more intellect involved here than just some hay seed up strumming a guitar and bellowing out mountain tunes. Sizemore’s stage demeanor confirms that. I don’t know how many times I kept asking myself, as Sizemore seemed to have a lot of closed-eyed, silent moments on stage, “What’s really going through this guy’s mind? What’s so captivated his thoughts?”
Perhaps, it’s all part of the man’s mystique. Who knows, maybe he was simply tired. Whatever, I walked away from the little campus-town bar Saturday night, not thinking “bucket of guts” at all. No, this guy’s got more polish than that. Perhaps, anatomically speaking, “heart and soul” would be more appropriate.
Whatever, Sizemore and his band came pretty darn close to blowing me away.
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