The Naptime Shake
Dallas, Texas, United States | SELF
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The Naptime Shake
La Grange
11 p.m.
First things first: the lead man of The Naptime Shake, Noah Bailey, is an esteemed member of the Dallas Observer crew. OK? OK. Moving on.
Judging by last night's exuberant set, Bailey is also a writer of some damn fine tunes that know when to twang, know when to rock and know exactly when a little of both are appropriate. The nominated band, who had the cumbersome task of following a particularly raucous set from the barn burners in Boys Named Sue, effectively kept the still-packed room engaged towards the stage. And they didn't even have to implement the word "pussy" numerous times in any of their songs in order to do so (which had helped the previous band get more than a few laughs).
Drawing mainly from their debut full-length effort, Blood and Panic, Bailey and his crew started off rollicking then progressed into a mellower zone that was a perfect fit for Bailey's Townes Van Zandt-fed storytelling. Make no mistake, the band as a whole is righteous, and after a technical glitch was cleared up, the players were simply on-point. Sharing the stage with Glen Farris on keys (who also happens to be up for a couple of other awards) and Chris Mayes, the multi-instrumentalist who threatened to hijack a couple of tunes with both his bold employ of the trombone and his dreamy steel guitar handy-work, Bailey wasn't ever in a position where he had to solely handle all the heavy lifting.
Tunes such as Blood and Panic standout track, "Texas City," a cover of the great Alejandro Escovedo's "Wedding Day" and the heart-stopping album title track--which happened to close the set--all displayed a delicate, and an at times quiet, touch that seemed to make those songs even more epic. In a live setting, the ability to slow the pace of the show without allowing the evening's joyful, celebratory and communal vibe slip away into sleepiness isn't a talent commonly held by many acts, yet the Naptime Shake seem to have that special quality down cold.
- DC9 at Night, the Dallas Observer music blog
"the mellow bastard lovechild born from an unholy tryst betwixt Uncle Tupelo and Calexico...'Wolves and Water' is one part Texas waltz, one part Wild West saloon sonata, and all parts good."
- Geoff Johnston, thehangingbrain.blogspot.com
"'Nourishment' reminded me of two things: Dr. Pepper and Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas." - Lance Lester, bonafidedarling.blogspot.com
"Is it just me, or does ['Mermaid of Virginia'] sound like the country equivalent of early Belle and Sebastian?" - ghostofblindlemon.blogspot.com
"The rootsy, earworm-heavy country tunes should appeal to listeners who like a little New Orleans brass with their twang." - Hunter Hauk, quickdfw.com
"I had just given a talk to a literary conference in Dallas about how to write about 'ordinary' people, when someone I had never met came up to me outside the auditorium. She pressed a CD into my hands and said there was a song on it I should hear--one inspired by a book I had written years ago. My book was about an apocalyptic moment in American history--like the Civil War, like hurricanes in New Orleans, like tornadoes in Texas, like wildfires in California--where people face the wickedly unexpected with an aching grace. Specifically, it was about a forgotten disaster, one hidden by history and by deliberate neglect, that some called the Texas City Disaster. In my book I tried to give, as the saying goes, voice to the voiceless.
I took the CD and headed down the highway to my home in Austin. My daughter was with me. I put the disc in and decided to listen, of course, to 'Texas City.' My windows were rolled down, no damned AC, and as the song and the heat washed over me, I felt my hands trembling on the steering wheel. The Texas horizon was hard to see--my eyes were filled with tears. My daughter looked on, in silence. The song was the soundtrack to what happened in Texas City a long time ago--the city on fire, the people with calluses on their hands, the people suddenly turned into doomed souls. I bowed my head as I listened to it and then the others, a soundtrack for the things you sense as you stare out your window and watch America roll by--the curse of fate, the sweet tender mercies, the luck of the draw, the tales hidden in the shimmering heat waves. This album is storytelling in the most beautiful sense of that term--stories that you come to because you really need to hear them."
- Bill Minutaglio, author of "City on Fire"
Discography
Blood and Panic -- 2009
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Bio
Blood and Panic is the debut album from North Texas band The Naptime Shake, featuring 11 nature- and disaster-obsessed songs as performed by songwriter (and Dallas Observer scribe) Noah W. Bailey and his band of seasoned musicians, stolen from some of Texas' finest groups (Pleasant Grove, Little Grizzly, the Deathray Davies, Doug Burr).
A full length follow-up is forthcoming.
"Blood and Panic is roots music that is pure, evocative and straight from the heart. For those who need the reference points, you might want to start with The Band, The Gourds, The Flatlanders, Townes Van Zandt and Iron & Wine--it's aching and poignant music that gurgles with tight musicianship and images that will linger long after the songs end. The shimmering melodies and lonesome voices drive home the bittersweet tales and add up to that rare combination: Musicianship And Meaning."
--Bill Minutaglio
Author of City On Fire
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