New Tim Easton

I somehow missed that Tim Easton came out with a new record last week (why no emusic?). It's called Porcupine, and Blurt (a new digital and quarterly print mag from the guys behind Harp) has the new video for the track "7th Wheel." I can't figure out how to embed it, but here's the link.

Tim Easton - Rumba Cafe

Even though Tim Easton is an Akron native now living in Joshua Tree, California, it always feels like a homecoming when he comes back to Columbus, as he did for a show at the Rumba Cafe Saturday. And judging from the bursting-at-the-seams crowd, Columbus, in turn, still embraces Easton like a native son.

The man has certainly spent plenty of time here, dating all the way back to his days at Ohio State playing with Kosher Spears, then later during his stint fronting edgy, alt-country favorites the Haynes Boys, whose 1996 album Guardian Angel continues to feed crops of roots rockers.

Easton kicked off the night with just his acoustic and a harmonica, playing a couple of new songs from a home-recorded bootleg called Highway 62 Love Songs, which he had on hand. Before a drummer joined him onstage, he also played “Next to You,” a soft ballad from 2006’s Ammunition. It’s a song that shows Easton’s super-sensitive, gushy side that has surfaced more often in recent years. The tune even inspired a young couple in front to slow dance in front of the stage. You could almost hear them whispering, “This is our song!” into each other’s ears.

Needless to say, I prefer his grittier material, and he more than obliged as his ladyfriend drummer from Bucyrus pounded the skins the rest of the night. It was a new, unpracticed and probably temporary incarnation, but even with the dropped beats now and then, she gave songs like “Black Dog” some teeth and a fresh, forceful pulse to go along with Easton’s pleasantly croaky vocals.

He played a packed concert for a packed house, with two sets split by a break long enough to span just about all of Wilco’s Summerteeth over the PA, and both sets showcased Easton’s ability to appeal to just about everyone while still retaining every bit of his artistic integrity. He can go seamlessly from honky-tonk to blues, folk-rock to fiery roots rock. You could see it in the makeup of the crowd, too: old, young and in-between, equal parts hipsters, bumpkins, suburbanites and rockers. In fact, the most passionate front-row fan was a dude who looked just like the singer from Disturbed, faithfully hoisting the rawk hand multiple times during every song.

The Rumba crowd was also treated to an impromptu reuniting of old Haynes Boys drummer Jovan Karcic for a rendition of “The New Franklin County Woman.” Of all the songs off Guardian Angel, the tune has a punk ethos that shows Karcic’s overlap with former Columbus pop-punkers Gaunt wasn’t that big of a leap after all.

Easton took some requests during the second set, and they ended up spanning his career. Highlights included “Rewind,” a song off 1998’s Special 20 that Easton said he wrote on High Street at 3 am, along with “Poor, Poor LA” off Break Your Mother’s Heart, showcasing his knack for turning a memorable phrase (“You don’t have to break your mama’s heart to change the world”).

But of all the songs, there was probably one that carried the most significance for Easton’s one-night stand in Columbus: “Just Like Home.”

mp3: Tim Easton - Stones Throw Away (previously unreleased, off Highway 62 Love Songs)

Highway 62 Love Songs

I caught Tim Easton's show at Rumba Cafe Saturday night. He didn't disappoint. A full review will be coming shortly.

He also was selling a new "dirty boot bootleg" CD, complete with stapled construction-paper sleeve, titled "Highway 62 Love Songs." I put on the disc today, and it's anything but dirty--14 tracks of intimate, nicely recorded Easton songs, most of which are new. In the words of a McDonald's ad campaign, I'm lovin' it.

A couple tracks for your enjoyment:

mp3: Tim Easton - Two of Us
mp3: Tim Easton - Beat the Band