The Clydesdale / The All-Togethers at the Neon Boneyard Bash

For their first year birthday bash/fundraiser, the Neon Museum assembled some great local talent to provide the live entertainment. The Swamp Gospel played, which was fitting as our own Rev. Sister Divine ran the Museum pretty much single-handedly for 3-1/2 years, as well as two other terrific Las Vegas acts, the All-Togethers and the Clydesdale.

I have ranted'n'raved about the All-Togethers several times before, and love their brand of prohibition-era, stripped down, acoustic Americana music. While the sound was a little iffy here and there on this night, they still put on a great show with their usual excellent originals and wacky covers, including a Lady Gaga tune (or so I am told). Brian was seated behind a full drum kit for this set, but didn't stray from his bare-bones approach, which suits the acoustic aspect of the music. Ken switches from guitar to banjo to mandolin, giving a variety to the songs and Cindy's stand-up bass always sounds fine as she adds lovely backing vocals. A good time is guaranteed with these folks!

Oddly, considering how long they have been around and how much they have played, I had never seen the Clydesdale before, despite hearing and digging their tunes and the cool video that our friend Stacey Torma did for their song "Dale Torro". This co-ed congregation includes singer/rhythm guitarist Paige Overton, who has a beautiful voice and plays solid guitar, drummer Courtney Carroll, who bashes with the best of 'em, lead guitarist Andrew Karasa and bassist Jason Aragon. Their music is country-flavored rock'n'roll, with an emphasis on melodies. Andrew plays some fine lap steel guitar on a number of tunes, as well as cool leads on his two hand-made guitars. No one gets overly flashy - they concentrate on doing what it takes to make the song work. Really great stuff. It seems like they took a bit of a hiatus for a while, but here's hoping that I will be seeing more of them in the near future.

Cool night in a cool setting for the anniversary of a worthy project. Thank you to the Neon Museum and to the great music that helped the celebration!