Shakey Graves
Photos by Chris Kocher
The Independent, SF (1/28/2020)
The blinds are drawn, a subtle layer of smoke rises above you, the faint smell of liquor permeates the air. A man in a jumpsuit emerges from the back room, slinking forward around a cozy assortment of furniture. He takes a seat upon a suitcase drum, tugs on the cord of an old lamp, reaches for a nearby guitar, and begins to play. Suddenly, as if out of thin air, he's accompanied by three friends sitting around a coffee table sipping wine. They begin to pat their knees, and sing along - almost to themselves, adding a subtle layer of percussion and harmony. It's a Tuesday night at The Independent, but it feels like you just stepped into an old friend's apartment for an impromptu jam session.
Shakey Graves brought his For The Record Tour through San Francisco for a sold out three night stand at The Independent, and we managed to catch him on the final night. For the uninitiated, Shakey Graves is the stage name for Austin based artist Alejandro Rose-Garcia - an incredibly gifted singer/ songwriter whose style pulls from blues, folk, and Americana. Best known for his one-man band setup, his music is driven by a simple kick drum and intricate guitar work. His voice is textured and soulful, with more grit and gravel than a junkyard dog. But behind that voice is really a big old puppy dog, and by that I mean the entire room couldn’t take their eyes off of him. Greeting the room with self deprecation, “I know right - who is this plumber on stage?”, you could tell this was going to be a little unconventional.
He proceeded to play a few more songs “solo” as his “crack team of confused experts” hung out behind him. His buddies consisted of Jon Shaw, Chris Boosahda, and Patrick O’Connor - the latter whom played harmonica briefly between subtle harmonies and knee pats. Before we knew it, they moved forward. Shaw assumed his command of a stand up bass that rivaled him in size, O’Connor an acoustic guitar alongside Shakey, and Boosahda behind a series of drums and a xylophone of all things. Shakey pulled out an old banjo that he said was the first and only banjo he’d ever owned, remarking that it was nothing special and was likely made of “compressed human shit”. They played through “Only Son”, and then moved onto “House of Winston”, a favorite of mine from 2014’s “And The War Came” - Boosahda played slide guitar on this one and I don’t think I’ve smiled that wide in a long time. Together they worked through the next three songs, interspersed with stories, quips and anecdotes - ending with “Aibohphobia” and its’ psychedelic origins. Before we knew it, they took a short intermission to set up recording gear.
Last I’d seen Shakey Graves, he opened the Greek Theater for Lord Huron with a full band and production. While I loved seeing him expand to that level, I was left wanting something more personable and intimate. I had also been introduced to Shakey via his 2013 Audiotree Session on YouTube, which features him playing to a small crowd, solo, in a bowling alley of all places. The performance is so good, you can listen to it as an official release on most streaming platforms. This tour recreates the energy of something special like that, something organic, something that won’t happen the same way again.
And so they returned to the stage, this time now recording. The band worked through four new tracks, beginning with an ear worm called “Not Everything Grows”. And in San Francisco, it was weed that grew. “When you mention weed”, he remarked, “people throw weed at you - which is tight”, the crowd laughed. “Only in California! Cops will getcha for that in Texas!”. Shakey is magnetic, effortlessly dropping in these small anecdotes with a spry smile and a complete lack of pretension. The concept of this tour is to work through new material as they go, to allow the songs to evolve organically - as Shakey feels his best material has come to the surface in this manner. He went on to admit that not all of the tracks he’s working on are built to be played and sang simultaneously, and that he’s learning them as he goes. The final song of this stint was actually a Beatles cover - “Real Love”, which Shakey remarked was a rather macabre song considering it was John Lennon’s final song, discovered and released posthumously.
The band receded yet again, leaving Shakey to his own devices for four more tracks - notably cuts from the previously mentioned Audiotree Sesions and a cut from 2017’s “Shakey Graves and the Horse He Rode In On”. Before we knew it, the band returned for an encore of “Pay The Road” - and that was that. I can’t say enough about how refreshing it was to experience an artist in this way. When the tour was announced, he called it a “Quest for Sound”, and it was amazing to be part of the journey - especially when it felt like it was from the comfort of a good friend’s living room.