Paladino was playing in the outside porch of the Echo and they were injecting in their music as many of these hillbilly-fast-beat rhythms as they could despite the small stage.
The Grand Ole Echo brings back all sorts of country music every Sunday, and the LA quintet was part of the last line-up with their own take on Americana and a cocktail of fast Johnny-Cash-style-whipped songs and slower classic western ballads, digging deep into the roots of country but also bringing some Mexican twist and a few guitar distortions.
For a young band (they haven’t even released anything yet and their self-titled debut is due for November 8th), they sounded quite good and at ease, but I have read that singer/songwriter Jonathan Harkham and guitarists Chris and Adrienne Isom have known each other for some time.
They define their music as psych/folk/country/punk, and a few of their songs sounded plain alt-country to me, the type Mr. Conor Oberst would not completely deny, once completed by the rhythm section, consisting of drummer Jon Rygiewicz and Annie Rothschild playing a large upright bass.
Jonathan Harkham’s vocals were back up by Adrienne Isom’s and Chris Isom’s, whose lead guitar was strumming, sliding and sometimes distorting the rootsy songs, flirting with some modern surf-garage-punk.
I have read that Isom previously played with Mooney Suzuki and Adam Green, and has a his mom who went to high school with Buddy Holly and tutored Joe B. Maudlin of the Crickets! A perfect preparation for a take on the past with this modern take, just like their covers of country old classics, ‘Green Green Grass of Home’, ‘Have You Ever Been Lonely’, and ‘Too Many Rivers’.
At the Grand Ole Echo, the familial ambiance (everyone seemed to have brought his or her children as the place was invaded by toddlers) was enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon, bringing the past to a new light.
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