Aaron Mitta
Equinox Staff
Around 8 p.m. on Tuesday night, Oct. 4 in Brewbakers, a tall, bearded man wearing an orange, mesh-backed trucker hat paced back and forth through the coffee shop. “You’re 40 miles away? On Interstate 91?” he said into his cell phone. The man, Brattleboro’s Michael Roberts, was on the phone with Walker Lukens and The Sidearms, the band he opened up for on Tuesday night. The Sidearms were stuck in traffic in Conn. for most of their trek from Brooklyn, an experience bassist Roger Paul Mason later resented.
“Connecticut…never again,” he said shaking his head while joking the entire state should be leveled so they can “just drive right over it.” The coffee house patrons didn’t seem to mind the wait as they drank coffee and soaked in the atmosphere of the rustically decorated Brewbakers. It wasn’t much longer until the lights dimmed and Roberts took his place on the humble stage beneath a burlap coffee bag, plugged his acoustic guitar in, and started playing.
“I’m gonna keep it real sleepy and rainy tonight – that’s the theme,” Roberts said. The window behind him separated the coffee shop from the glum portrait of umbrellas bobbing up and down outside as pedestrians powered through the rain.
But the weather didn’t matter – Roberts’ music could dance between the sunshine and pouring rain without issue.
The timbre of his six string was almost as hollow and twangy as a banjo when he sang, “Stories don’t set trees on fire, lovers are best one at a time,” on the first song. His writing is brazenly honest, self-reflective and inspired by Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. Writing lyrics, Roberts explained, is the leg of his music that challenges him the most. “The music is easy, lyrics are the hard part,” he said. “It takes a lot of time to write bad songs, and it’s a process of writing through the bad songs.” His lyrics aren’t kitschy or forced, and he has no need for overly flowery language. He doesn’t try to manipulate words until they rhyme – they flow naturally.
“I get a sense when the insides don’t come out,” he admitted on his third song – a true demonstration of his honest lyricism.
While performing Tuesday as a solo act, Roberts is also involved in a number of bands and musical projects, like his Brattleboro-based group Wooden Dinosaur.
Roberts explained he wears a different hat when he’s playing solo sets than when playing in bands. “My solo stuff is really folky, more folk rock, and my other bands are straight up rockabilly and rock,” he said.
By the time The Sidearms pulled into Keene in their minivan, Roberts’ set was just about done. “Who wants to buy this kick drum for a dollar?” Mason sang while loading gear into Brewbakers.
The intensity of latte machines muffled the sounds of quiet conversations and banter while The Sidearms set up. After tuning his Tennessee Rose Gretsch, guitarist and head man for The Sidearms, Walker Lukens, counted down into their first song. Their alternative country, Americana style was at times reminiscent of Cass McCombs, Dick Dale, and Wilco. But mostly, their sound was their own. “We’re not your dad’s Americana,” he laughed. Lukens played simple yet satisfying songs as Mason on bass, Meghan Tully on the drums, and Kevin Benjamin Thomas on trumpet filled out the rest of the sound.
Mason’s clever bass quips weaved in and out of crisp snaps of Tully’s brushes on the snare.
Overall, the bulk of their songs were filled with surf-inspired, palm-muted guitar upstrokes on top of washy cymbals and a double-tapped, galloping snare.
“The Night I Was Kissed by Patti Smith,” was the band’s highlight. Interlocking and repetitive bass lines kept a tight groove as Lukens hammered on and off the frets of his guitar.
Most of his songs, Lukens explained, stem from dreams and basic melodic ideas.
Inspired by the piano in the studio where The Sidearms had recorded in the past, they “turned to a more melodic, Burt Bacharach approach,” Lukens explained.
Keene resident and exhaustive follower of local Keene music Jason Blad filmed the entire performance and said both Michael Roberts and Walker Lukens and the Sidearms did a good job.
Blad can be found at just about any concert or open mic in town and, according to Blad, he has upwards of 300 to 400 filmed performances on his YouTube account.
“They didn’t play long enough,” another Keene resident, Mark Silkworth, admitted.
“The band has a sound greater than some of its individual parts,” Silkworth added. “And they definitely have a unique yet recognizable sound.”
And while the set was fairly short, Lukens said all the songs performed on Tuesday are scheduled to be recorded and mastered by Mason and put onto either an EP or LP.
Aaron Mitta can be contacted at noraamitt@gmail.com