By Ben Bonadies
Photo by Harry Gustafson
“Buck and I did this weird thing,” the singer Jolie Holland said, on stage at Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom. She explained how it came to be that she and Buck Meek, best known as the guitar player for Big Thief, both recorded and released a song Holland started called “Haunted Mountain,” which then became the title tracks for both her and Meek’s new albums, both released within two months of each other. Weird indeed, but Meek’s decision to bring Holland on tour with him gave the whole enterprise a familial feeling.
Holland’s version leans heavier into the “haunted” thing more than Meek’s jaunty take. It’s considerably slower, statelier and she sings it with her voice aimed directly through the bottom of her jaw.
If there is a Buck Meek sound it rests with guitarist Adam Brisbin. The mileage he gets out of his instrument is frankly incredible. He’ll use lots of delay to sound like a chorus of guitars or add distortion to get a meaty honky-tonk squawk. Other times his guitar will sound like the high chimes of a xylophone or a mournful saxophone. I still don’t know how he did that.
Tim Carr’s drumming eschewed sticks at every opportunity. Mallets, brushes and the open hand were used liberally and it gave the rhythm section a feeling of “closeness”—texture and feel given priority over sheer driving force.
Before a few early songs, Buck would call for this one to be “just a little bit faster,” prompting (friendly) sighs from his band. But it’s what kept this crowd moving through his meat-and-potatoes Americana. “Thank you for dancing. It really helps us out,” Meek said before taking a sip of his Narragansett tallboy.
Meek himself was rarely still. His head bobbed and swiveled atop his neck, his leather booted feet doing a little soft-shoe like he was grinding something into the stage with his toe. He appears elfin with sharp facial features that would not seem out of place in Rivendell.
Late in the set, Meek got a big jolt for the Big Thief cut “Certainty,” a song Meek introduced as one he wrote with his friend Adrianne Lenker. He told a story about how the pair met at a house show in Jamaica Plain, prompting another big whoop from the crowd. I conjured images of Meek and Lenker as a crunchy JP couple (Meek and Lenker were married for a few years and they divorced in 2018), not yet famous, still honing their songcraft. Egged on, he told another story about how his old landlord threatened to cut his throat if the heater broke during a cold Somerville winter.
Meek ended his encore on new tune “Outta Body” that’s as close to disco as he may ever come. As he walked off stage, Meek was beaming. He said it was a very special show, one of his favorites he’s ever played. It was a tough compliment to take knowing his resume includes some of the nation’s premiere concert venues, television programs, and a concert film with Bob Dylan. But given Meek’s history in Boston, it must have felt like a homecoming for him.
Check out the rest of Harry’s photos, unless yer too yella.
