I have a dream. A dream where different musical ideas live together. Funk gets along with bluegrass. Percussion and string instruments side by side. Improvisation with precision playing. The band Boxcar Social brought all those elements together last night at the Whole Cannoli in Camp Hill PA.
My GPS got me to the right spot except the sign for the Whole Cannoli is rather small. Or maybe I was distracted by the name of the gym next door, called Most High (We Train Athletes). Cozy little place with a fireplace in the center of the room giving it the feeling of being tucked away in the Rockies. Boxcar fit right in with their genre of funky soulgrass.
They opened up with an original, Moonshine Revival, spotlighting lead singer Brian Davis’ soulful yet gritty vocals. Another first set highlight was Appalachian Range, a song that truly shows off their fidelity to that high and lonesome sound. A new original, My Friend Paul, is a humorous tribute to their secret weapon, mandolin player and beard enthusiast Paul Kraft. A nod must be given to percussionist Dave Wonderlin’s inspired scratching makes this a welcome addition to their catalogue.
The highlight of the first set was the now famous Pockets Sandwich, with Ween’s Bananas and Blow as the meat of the sandwich. Once again, Paul lays down the bed of bluegrass while the unique rock of the Ween cover fits in perfectly with Boxcar’s mashup of styles. A rocking Man Smart, Women Smarter had everyone up and dancing and was the perfect ending to the first set.
A quick set break and we’re back to the music. The emotional high point of the show was Wagon Wheel, which featured Lauren Scowcroft sharing vocals with Brian. First time I have seen another vocalist sit in with them, and they nailed it. The band then took it up another level with a spot on cover of Phish’s First Tube. Col. Josh Sanders kept the beat clean and tight while Frank Vecera ripped it up. This song is all about the guitar runs and Frank laid waste to it like the Steelers’ Defense (Sorry have to get a shoutout to my team in here. Notice, I resisted the urge to slag the northern most Southern city. And for the record, The Wire is the best show EVER.). Using his pedal board, Frank led the band in creating a dark and heavy sonic landscape.
Once again, Boxcar Social threw down a rocking good time, brewing up the stew that is their sound. As they begin to expand the places they’re playing in, you owe it to yourself to check out the most daring band on the South Central PA music scene
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD in Rock and Roll
The first three paragraphs really set the literary scene for the rest of your scientific musical breakdowns. Your writing craft just gets hotter with each post. I love, the first paragraph most of all. It really made me read on with enthusiasm. I'm going to remind you that you wrote that next time you stick up your nose at one of my "weird" musical suggestions!
ReplyDeleteWell put word painting of a most awesome evening of brews (can't complain about the selection when it's BYOB), friends, and great original (including the occasional cover) music.
ReplyDeleteThe Whole Cannoli provided a place where both Ravens fans (yes that large american with the beard you keep running into at BoxSoc shows is infact a die hard fan of the, how did you put it, northern most southern city, as well as a former resident) and Steelers Fans could stand side by side and enjoy the show, despite their differences in sports fandom. Kind of like BoxSoc does so with it's Ravens fans in Paul and Frank, and Steelers fan in Brian. As Paul put it, Brian counts as at least 3.
BoxSoc creates an environment where all people can have fun, no matter who you are or what you do. They were/are just that good.