The Handsome Family have been crafting some of the finest tunes you can find in alternative country for nearly 25 years now, yet it took a television show to bring them to the attention of a wider audience. Thanks to the fame brought on by this happy "accident", the band finally got an invitation to play a show in Athens and we had the opportunity to enjoy their dark, surrealistic blend of country, folk and rock up close and personal.
The husband and wife team of Brett and Rennie Sparks together with Alex McMahon (guitars, steel, keyboards) and drummer Jason Toth presented a set spanning a large part of their illustrious career, from their most recent work, 2016's "Unseen", going all the way back to the acclaimed 1998 album "Through the Trees" and including, of course, the hit "Far from Any Road" in a looser, slightly jazzy version.
Despite the fact that the choice of venue proved unsuccessful for this gig (there's not a big audience for alt. country in Greece and apparently True Detective was only a cult hit here), the band did a good job in creating an intimate atmosphere and communicating with the audience both with their melodic music and with Rennie's always entertaining, unpredictable song introductions.
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| The Handsome Family, live in Athens (Oct. 19th, 2018) |
As an added bonus for us, before the fine set by The Handsome Family we also had the opportunity to enjoy an acoustic performance by singer-songwriter Laura Gibson. Her truly wonderful voice, accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, was enough to captivate the lucky few who turned up early to the venue to sample her work.
Gibson's latest album titled "Goners" is out next week and we were among the first ones to get our hands on a copy after the show, which is certainly going to feature among our selections for October.
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| Laura Gibson, live in Athens (Oct. 19th, 2018) |
Sample below two tracks from The Handsome Family's performance in Athens as well as "The Fire" by Laura Gibson, a song off her 2012 album "La Grande":
The Handsome Family - Weightless Again (live in Athens, October 19th, 2018)
The Handsome Family - Far From Any Road (live in Athens, October 19th, 2018)
Laura Gibson - The Fire (live in Athens, October 19th, 2018)
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