Just got back from the Townhall freeshow/instore tonight on South Street… the heat dissipated a bit, leaving about 300 fans, friends, and curious onlookers with a sonic treat in the street. I hadn’t seen Townhall in a few years, but really liked what I saw – a band that used to be lumped into the ‘jamband’ category, but in recent months has moved into a decidedly more song-based sound. This is coupled with the release of their new CD American Dreams, and the thing I like about the CD – it’s one of those albums that gets better with every listen. For the first time, I can say that there are classic songs – songs that live inside you and remain with you after you take the CD off. These guys have always been amazing musicians, but now, for the first time in their young career (this is their 3rd album, including a live double CD), they are letting their musicianship shine through without trying to force it to happen. It’s like they’ve realized that it’s no big thing to impress with their skills (tho these skills are impressive – witness a short horn section turn tonight) and instead have focused on delivering strong statements with their songs – at turns political, heartfelt, social, even sexy. It’s a great piece of growth for the band (at least for me, not being a fan of the musicianship-for-musicianship’s sake jam bands) – and comparable to the kind of third album change that Wilco went through a few years ago. I’m sure there are some fans of the early Townhall that will miss their more extended/experimental side – they will complain that the twirling quotient is way down… and this phenomenon reminds me of what happened to Wilco a few years ago – when they faced down their strongest supporters in moves nearly as tumultuous to their fans as the infamous Dylan-goes-electric changes in the mid-‘60s. While Townhall has moved towards a new kind of musical pop music coming away from Jamband rock, Wilco dropped the ‘alt-country’ sounds of their early work, and now today the band shows little in common with leader Jeff Tweedy’s former partner/rival Jay Farrar’s Son Volt, who kept the flag waving for Americana music long after Tweedy had moved beyond his Uncle Tupelo roots. One thing that struck me, having seen both Wilco and Townhall in the past week… unlike some bands that try to change their sound and fail (Saves the Day or Get Up Kids maybe?), both these bands are actually generating new, younger fans, while maintaining a lot of their original fans. It’s a tough move to pull off, but the artists that can do it – Radiohead, Beck, Neil Young – are the kind of artists that create careers, not just hit singles… and while there’s no question that Wilco is well along on that path (along with perhaps Flaming Lips), it would be awesome if a similar fate awaits Townhall. The fact that both these bands (who would actually make a great double bill) played amazing shows in some Philly heat in the past week cements the connection. I have seen Wilco at least 10 times and never as strong as their Festival Pier show last week – and finally, seeing it live, the new album A Ghost is Born made total sense to me… the Young-esque guitar freakout excursions worked live. Add in Wilco opener My Morning Jacket (be ready to have your head blown off when you hear us break their new album this fall), and Philly locals Dr. Dog and I feel the start of… something. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but maybe it’s just – great musicians playing great songs, with a spirit of adventure and a grace and poise that is sometimes lacking on the charts, and a determination to create songs that will live on past the current tour/radio cycle of their album.

As to the Philly scene in general – we are all filled with hope! Still trying and hoping to make the world look past the ‘last philly rock band to break big = Hooters’ we here at Y100Rocks.com are waving the flag for many promising and diverse local artists – Capitol Years, A-Sides, Pepper’s Ghost, Army of Me (ok, well, DC, but close enough for us to cheer for them), Beauty’s Confusion, B.C. Camplight, Bitter Bitter Weeks, Box Five, Days Away, Hail Social, Jealousy Curve, Mad Action, Mazarin, One Star Hotel, Overlook, Pawnshop Roses, Perfectionists, Persona, Rockets and Cars, Run Away From the Humans, Silvertide, the Situation, Stiffed, This Radiant Boy, Trouble Everyday, Young Werewolves, Zolof The Rock and Roll Destroyer, and a couple that I believe in so strongly that I’m helping to release their records on Manic Pop Thrill Records – Mcgowan and The Wayward Wind. All great bands – and I hope that they all achieve long careers – and that the relationship that is being forged at the start of their music making with Y100 will continue to evolve. I hope to add to this list in the coming weeks and months (can’t wait to hear Eastern Conference Champions – Josh from Laguardia’s new band) – and in the meantime, I encourage everyone reading this to give the new Townhall album American Dreams a listen, download, and yes, a purchase (let’s all feed some local musicians!) – it’s a great record, and maybe if we all chip in, we can help launch a worthy band on the next step of their music making.

Jim McGuinn