When it comes to modern rock music, the most rollicking tunes are often found in the most basic form of a band: the duo. A guitar and a drum kit are about all you need anyway, right?
Recognizable rock duos like The White Stripes and The Black Keys have been pumping out great music for years, ranging from gritty blues grooves to heavy rock ballads. Tupelo natives Judson and Joel Vance, better known as Rooster Blues, embody that same minimalist, yet epic rock spirit. The brothers have been rocking together since 2003 and will be playing live tonight at Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern.
Rooster Blues, now residing in Hattiesburg, is a versatile blues/rock band with elements of bluegrass that puts on a face-melting rock show as easily as it can sing a song of warm harmony. Judson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the band, while Joel plays drums and mandolin and shares vocals as well.
The band’s 2008 self-titled debut is currently available on iTunes, featuring two great songs: “Down is On My Way” and radio-ready “Three.” The boys recorded their actual first album titled Rehab in 2004, but as explained in the Rooster Blues biography, the absence of a bluegrass sound led the band not to wide release it but use it as a learning tool instead.
The overall sound of Rooster Blues is scattered, ranging from the low rumble of the Delta blues to the epic explosion of a Jimi Hendrix jam. The band also surprises by being equally capable of playing harmonious and rhythmic bluegrass tunes, best exemplified in the band’s string-only arrangement “Love You Still.”
The band is constantly changing its live set lists, which makes any show completely unpredictable for the audience. It also plays a fair amount of song covers that include Hendrix and Neil Young. According to the band’s biography, Judson is classically trained in piano and learned how to play the guitar by ear. Joel began playing the drums in 2001 with an emphasis on jazz improvisation, funk and rock and roll. Improvisation is also a talent that Rooster Blues has. Hendrix was well known for consistently surprising audiences with his improvisational guitar antics, and Rooster Blues works the same way.
During a really intense song, Judson will occasionally channel that Hendrix energy and shred guitar solos with his teeth. Aside from ripping licks with his uppers, he will also put the guitar up behind his head or play in a wide cello-like stance with the guitar on the ground.
The band recently recorded a second album in Austin, Texas, titled Death Sex Blues, which has yet to be released.
In the fall of 2009, Judson said in a YouTube interview, “We’re trying to show a new turn of what the blues is these days, a little more rock and roll, a little more in your face . definitely shredding.”
It’s great to see a Mississippi band with such versatility coming through Starkville.
I would never belittle anyone who has the courage to perform music onstage, but the one-man acoustic setup I see so frequently starts to wear out after a while.
The live music scene in this town definitely needs some shaking up and Rooster Blues is just the group to do it.
As a (mediocre) guitar player, I know that the some of the first things one learns when taking up the craft of six-string mastery are blues riffs.
Anyone can play the blues, but it takes experience, energy and talent to know the blues. The boys of Rooster Blues come packed with all three.
If you are looking for a local band that can thrill and astonish, melt faces and warm hearts, then look no further than Rooster Blues. The band takes the stage tonight at Dave’s on Old Highway 82 at 10 p.m.
Tour information, old and new recordings and much more can be found on its MySpace page at myspace.com/theroosterblues. There are many videos of the band’s live performances and studio recordings on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/theroosterblues.