The Last Town Chorus and Kathleen Edwards at Knuckleheads

Knocked out.

About 100 people packed into the roofed portion of Knuckleheads last Wednesday night. That's about the same number of goofy smiles that lit up the roadhouse.

Kathleen Edwards and a full band looked and sounded impeccable. My friends Richard and Tim wrote proper reviews. Like them, I appreciated Edwards' wonderful effort. Still, she was too rehearsed and unspontaneous for my raucous mood that night. I wanted more ragged and less right.

The Last Town Chorus fit the bill.

Even though she sang and played lap steel to a backing track, Megan Hickey packed more improvisational flourishes and interesting concepts into her set than the headliner. Hickey's guitar work explored the commonalities between Robert Fripp and Robert Randolph, although she later confided that Jimi Hendrix is her primary inspiration. The Last Town Chorus is refreshingly delightful.

Edwards and her husband Colin Cripps contribute vocal and production assistance to "Punches," a great song from Texan Collin Herring's new Past Life Crashing. He sounds uncannily like a young Freedy Johnston- high praise coming from this Kansan.






















(Original photos of The Last Town Chorus, top, and Kathleen Edwards, bottom, by There Stands the Glass.)

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Kansas City Click: Kevin Cerovich plays host at the Blue Room.