Hemlock Tavern
San Francisco, CA
7 June 2008
They’re cute. They’re married (to each other, as it turns out). They’re Foot Foot, and at the Hemlock Tavern tonight, they played a brand of folk/roots/country that made me want to tap my foot and whistle.
If only I could whistle.
Amidst the sweet melding of banjo picking and slide guitar…sliding, swirled dark lyrics delivered with stark detachment. But in a good way. “Take your Dixieland whores and your elevator porn…shit I’d lose a limb or two for you, I’d do anything for you.” Now that’s some country I can get into.
It was this juxtaposition of moods and melodies that drove Robin and Josh Brown forward, carrying a willing audience with them. Her voice stood alone. The only time I heard Josh’s was at the merch table after their set.
The highlight of the night was clearly Shasta Heavy with its dark driving movement towards some mysterious thing that seemed to lurk in the shadows, just around the bend of the next phrase.
Whatever it is, I’m on board. I happen to love elevator porn.