BACK IN THE SADDLE Girl Haggard. [Photo by Curt Allan] |
Some familiar female voices will hit the local live music circuit over the next few weeks, so we decided to round up a trio of can’t-miss shows.
Girl Haggard’s bosslady in charge is back in town and back in action, as Mandy Allan returns for a one-night stand this Saturday at the Parlour (owned by GH bassist Aaron Jaehnig). The last Girl Haggard show was in June 2012 before Allan (and husband Curt) relocated to Portland, Oregon. The 2011 debut Country and Eastern (available at 75orlessrecords.com and iTunes) captured the band’s unquenchable thirst for bourbon, beer, and catchy country-punk love songs calibrated for your local trailer park. Mandy took the Best Female Vocalist award in our 2011 music poll before handing over the ’12 title to close friend Scarlett Delgado of Lolita Black. Allan, originally from Tennessee, belted out booze-soaked love songs like “Providence and Bourbon,” “Hungover/Pissed Off” and “Early & Often,” a salute to the band’s former watering hole of choice, the E & O Tap. Guitarist Adam Theroux (aka Hank Sinatra Jr.) memorably paired with Allan on the duet “Drunk, Broke, and In Love.” Theroux and Allan will make an appearance on The Rhode Show to plug the upcoming reunion gig.
Allan is currently singing backup in an alt-country band in Portland along with “an all-girl pop-punk band in the works.” She has kept in touch with her former bandmates and since this is her first visit to Rhode Island in more than a year, “There was no doubt this show was happening,” she said when we caught up earlier this week. And as far as knocking the rust off, Allan confidently declared:
“We’ve had one-and-a-half practices. It’s rock ’n’ roll. We’re ready.”
GIRL HAGGARD + HIPPIE JOHNNY + THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE | Saturday, September 28 @ 9 pm | The Parlour,
1119 North Main St, Providence | 21+, $5 | 401.383.5858 | 75orlessrecords.com
My first encounter with alt-pop quartet For the Love of Sloane was way back in 2009 during the WBRU Rock Hunt semi-finals. Although the band looked and sounded nervous onstage, lead singer Elese Morrone had the pipes to carry the big hooks of quality cuts like “Bitter” (the title track to a 2008 EP) and “So What If” all the way to the Rock Hunt final four. Those tunes were carried over to the long-awaited 2013 debut album Curses, Spells, and Charms. Morrone, with bassist Michelle Salgueiro, drummer Jay Jefferson and guitarist Stephen Moniz, will celebrate the CD release with a headlining set at the Spot next Friday. And I guarantee the chorus on Curses standout cut “Dig Deeper” will remain stuck in your head for weeks.
FOR THE LOVE OF SLOANE + VULGARRITY + SATELLITES FALL + NYMPHIDELS | Friday, October 4 @ 9 pm | The Spot Underground, 101 Richmond St, Providence | 401.383.7133 | fortheloveofsloane.com
