Darkness Means...Danger - The Hollyfelds At Rock*A*Billies

The world is full of wonder. The first time I caught the Hollyfelds was back in October of last year, when they opened for the Hickman-Dalton Gang at the Soiled Dove. The only reason I was at that show, btw, was to watch Johnny Hickman play the guitar - he is one of my personal guitar gods.


The Hollyfelds were the opener, and open they did. And in an eerily coincidental manner, I became a fan of theirs. 


Eerily coincidental because I had become a fan of Johnny Hickman's when he was playing lead guitar for a sadly long-forgotten band known as The Unforgiven, who were opening for another unappreciated and long-forgotten band, The Long Ryders, of which I was a big fan.


Johnny Hickman knocked me on my ass that night (he played Amazing Grace, bottleneck slide - it was incredible).


The Hollyfelds, while not as senses-numbing with their performance when they opened for the Hickman-Dalton Gang, made a similar impression on me.


It was their enthusiasm. They flat out just loved what they were doing, and it showed big time.


This band, comprised of Keith Hoerig on bass, his dynamo wife Eryn on electric acoustic guitar and vocals, the delightful Kate Grigsby joining her in vocal duties and on guitar, the highly-skilled Tim Mallot on electric guitar (and mandolin), and Sam Spitzer keeping the pace on the drums, have been around since 2006, so I'm a bit of a late comer to the fanclub.


But much, much better late than never.


Tonight's show at Rock*A*Billies in Arvada was the same mixture of polished professionalism and raw enthusiasm that I've now come to expect from this fine ensemble.


The band played for just about two hours, and the vocals from Eryn and Kate were as strong in the last song as the they were in the first song.


They played a number of their own compositions (Empress of Wyoming, What It Feels Like, Burned, Momma Got A DUI), and a number of covers (from the works of Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline...and The Statler Brothers).


The double-barreled vocals of Eryn & Kate were strong all night - they belted out songs like frat boys downing shots, with wild abandon and exuberance beyond the pale.


Which amazes me. Crowd size is not a performance indicator for this group. The bar was fairly packed with about 150 people present when they took the stage around 9:00, but it had thinned to 50 by the time they were wrapping it up a little after 11:00 (older crowd, and we tend to go home early...)


The harmonies were still soaring though, and the band was still giving it's all. They played for 50 fans with more passion and energy than I've seen chart-topping bands play in sold-out stadiums.


I estimate I have attended well over 1,000 concerts (having family in the ticket biz has helped). Hundreds of those shows were forgotten the day after. The Hollyfelds, they are memorable. 


Oh, lest I forget, Rock*A*Billies is a damn fine establishment. I highly recommend the Billy sandwich - Yum!