Photos and Recap by Stephen Bloch

When one of the godfather’s of “xxx” comes to town, it’s important to pay homage.  That could be James Brown for funk, Buddy Guy for blues, The Rolling Stones for rock and roll, or Herbie Hancock for jazz, to name a very limited few.  Son Volt certainly falls into that category if you’re talking about a somewhat more recent genre, alt-country.  I did just that on Tuesday at a spot that is tailor made for that, Milwaukee’s Turner Hall Ballroom. 

This was a show not to be missed as they were playing their seminal album Trace as well as tunes from Doug Sahm and various other tracks from their nearly 30 year career.  For nearly two hours they had fans, both young and old, singing along and tapping their feet.  The 25-song set also included a cover of Petty’s “American Girl” and Uncle Tupelo’s “Chickamauga”, who is the godfather’s father in terms of alt-country (a band singer Jay Farrar was in alongside Jeff Tweedy).  Anders Parker played a beautiful set of acoustic folk songs to open the show.

Great show at a great venue.  Don’t miss Son Volt their extensive tour.