The veteran Nashville rock band has a brand new album and plays the Tip Top on Friday, with West Michigan’s The Dushanes opening. And one lucky reader will win tickets to the show.
Guilty Pleasure: The Bluefields play the Tip Top Deluxe on Friday night.
Drawing players from Jason & The Scorchers, The Georgia Satellites, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals and Royal Court of China, Warner Hodges calls The Bluefields a “guilty pleasure” band.
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Others might rightly call this Nashville bunch a “super-group.”
“It’s a rock band. Nobody’s going to tell you to cut down and hold back,” the guitarist-singer said in a recent phone interview with Local Spins. “We’re doing this because we love it and want to do it, not because we’re going to be playing Madison Square Garden next summer. We’re just having fun with it.”
The same might be said for members of West Michigan’s own alt-country heroes, The Dushanes, who re-connected last year and are about to record their first new album in 20 years.
Both bands will perform Friday night at the Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill, in what promises to be a rare aligning of musical talent. Tickets are $10, with the show beginning at 8 p.m.
The Dushanes (Photo/Local Spins)
The Bluefields’ “fun” project recently spawned the band’s third studio CD, a rollicking rock affair that Hodges readily concedes began as a solo venture he launched to “scratch my Led Zeppelin itch. That quite honestly is what I wanted to do,” he said. “We kind of lean a little heavy on that. … We don’t play any of the other bands’ material inside the project.”
Of course, no one would complain if a bit of these other bands’ influences seeped into The Bluefields’ approach, considering the legacy of its Nashville-based members:
Hodges is an original and longtime member of respected cowpunk/country rock outfit Jason & The Scorchers, Dan Baird is co-founder and former member of Southern rock’s Georgia Satellites (and frontman for Dan Baird & Homemade Sin, in which Hodges plays guitar), Brad Pemberton was the drummer for Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, and singer-guitarist Joe Blanton was part of the ’80s rock band Royal Court of China.
“It’s a pretty special group,” Hodges conceded. “There are serious players in the band.”
Indeed, it’s so serious that the band in February released its third album in three years, “Under High Cotton,” following 2013’s “Ramshackle” and 2012’s “Pure” debut.
“It’s a much more cohesive band thing,” Hodges said of the new album. “It’s not 10 songs thrown together as quickly as you can get it together.”
The Bluefields will travel to Europe again this summer.
Although the do-it-yourself band doesn’t have a publicist or a major record label, The Bluefields have gotten attention for their free-wheeling rock and already have toured overseas. They’ll return to Europe this summer to tour behind the new album.
“It’s wonderful to be this old and still be able to do this,” joked Hodges, 55. “I kind of fell into this really good group of guys.”
That “good group” ended up getting booked at The Tip Top thanks to Dushanes guitarist Jack Leaver, a friend of Hodges on Facebook and a self-professed “big fan” of Jason & The Scorchers.
“A couple of months ago, Warner shared a video of The Bluefields … and I suggested they come to Michigan,” Leaver said. “He asked, ‘When and where,’ and I told him I knew just the place.”
The Dushanes themselves have been writing and performing again after enjoying success back in the late ’80s and early ’90s. After going their separate ways, band members – Leaver, Mitch Wood, Greg Miller and Todd Truman – reunited last year and are getting ready to head back into the studio to record their first album in two decades.
“Originally, we talked about putting together a compilation with a re-mastered version of our first cassette-only release, with outtakes and a couple new songs,” Leaver said. “We may still do that, but we also may do a whole album.”
Get more information and tickets for Friday double-bill at the Tip Top’s Facebook page.
And the first person who emails me with BLUEFIELDS in the message field, wins a pair of tickets to Friday night’s concert.
UPDATE: Congratulations to reader Sondra Loucks Wilson. She was the first person to email me with ‘Bluefields’ in the message field and will enjoy the concert compliments of Local Spins and The Tip Top Deluxe.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
The Tip Top Deluxe has been an amazing and underrated addition to the Grand Rapids live music scene. Lucky for us, it has been “our little secret” on the northwest side. Best place in town for local bands, rockabilly, punk, alt-country, cult bands like The Red Elvises, legendary bands like The Del-Lords and The Blasters, and singer-songwriters like Tommy Womack, Eddie Spaghetti, and Fred Eaglesmith. They have the best open-mic comedy night in town, too, every other Tuesday. Keep up the great work, Ted!