The Dustbowl Revival
This past Thursday, my wife Zinnia and I were attending the film premiere for Love in the Time of Monsters, a campy, horror comedy (more on that in another post) at a theater in downtown Los Angeles. Afterwards, we made our way to the after-party which was happening at The Edison, a prohibition era themed nightclub located in a building that was once downtown LA's first private power plant. Stepping into The Edison is an experience in itself, like attending a roaring 20s party thrown by Gatsby. What was extra special this time and a total surprise, was entering The Edison while the band The Dustbowl Revival was performing.
I know this may seem a little off subject from my usual classic movie related posts, but classic movie lovers who, like me, enjoy all things retro and old fashioned, will likely enjoy the throwback sounds of The Dustbowl Revival. The song Zinnia and I first walked in on was a very old-timey sounding jazz number that was very appropriate for The Edison's ambiance. The more we heard, the more we felt like we were transported back in time. The Dustbowl Revival, a Venice, California-based band, brings to life many styles of early 20th-century American music including bluegrass, Dixie-jazz, jug-band, gospel and 1930s hot swing. The large group of musicians even utilizes some old fashioned instruments, like a washboard or a kazoo that they mix with more traditional instruments like guitar, trombone, clarinet, stand up bass, drums, mandolin, violin and several other instruments.
Here is a video of The Dustbowl Revival performing their song, "That Old Dustbowl" (note: there may be short ad that plays before the video starts).
I am a little late in discovering The Dustbowl Revival - they already have a few albums out - but I'm glad I discovered them when I did. The band put on a good show at their record release and I cannot wait to see them play live again, which will hopefully be soon. The group has a few more LA based shows before they go on tour.
For LA folks, the band will be playing this Sunday (April 21, 2013) at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and in May the group will be playing Wednesday nights at The Mint.
To learn more about The Dustbowl Revival or to see if they will be on tour in your area, visit their official page here.