Friday, July 10, 2015

Laila and Smitty at Barbes

This week I caught Kenny Warren's band Laila and Smitty at Barbes celebrating the release of their 2nd album. They're really pushing their avant-Americana style in new directions with more layered rhythms and some African-sounding textures reminiscent of tUnE-yArDs. Kenny's singing is understated but very emotionally direct. The band is great, and it was nice to hear Jeremiah Lockwood again on dobro, who was originally in the band before he moved to the west coast.