King Bucks – Live @Love & War in Plano, TX (5/1/09)

With the North Texas area seemingly stuck in a collective freak-out over the flu of the swine, I decided to risk my life, as well as the life of my family, to head to Love & War in Texas to catch The King Bucks for the first time.  To locals, the Bucks are practically a supergroup.  For you folks that aren’t so local, you are likely familiar with the work from this band’s individual past lives.  Keith Killoren adn Chad Stockslager have been plying their craft in The Drams (and Budapest One before that) for some time now, and Danny Balis was in Sorta (which stopped, for all intents and purposes after the death of Carter Albrecht). Joe Butcher and Chris Carmichael, both area veterans as well, round out the line-up of players.

The set that I was in attendance for offered a mixed bag of covers and originals, which makes sense, as The King Bucks have but one record out, and they were playing for 3 hours.  The covers were expertly interpreted and executed with a little extra punch. Haggard’s “Mama Tried” was slightly revved up with an early-era Johnny Cash rockabilly rhythm, while Little Feet’s “Willing” was as irreverent as the original, if not more so.  The tribute to the recently passed Vern Gosdin was a welcome and appreciated touch in the form of “Set ‘Em Up”.

Piano/Keyboardist, Stockslager proved to be chief front man, even though he never left his seat at the keys.  While each of the others, save the drummer, Carmichael, took turns on lead vocals, it was Stockslager who relished the role of a folksy M.C. using a slightly hicked-up tone that recalled an old man sitting on a porch while whittling. He kept things moving along while Balis, Killoren and Butcher changed instruments and places on the stage.  Balis’ “Autumn Leaves” and Killoren’s “Girl From the City” were the highlights of the stone-cold country originals (which are available on their debut disc) that were performed before I left.

All in all, I am glad that I was so brave/reckless to sit outside in public and listen to one of DFW’s finest, new bands establish themselves as not a side project, but a full-fledged band with big things down the road.