A couple of years ago, I attended a Pernice Brothers show at the lovely old Iron Horse in Northampton, MA. It has always been one of my longtime favorite places to see a show. The long gone Bay State Hotel is another, but we’ll save that one for a different rainy day. I came extremely close to moving out to Northampton a couple of times during the record label days, but for some stupid reason felt like remaining in Boston was better for the label.  Digression….

That Pernice Brothers show was memorable on a couple of levels. Joe Pernice’s mother was there. You don’t get to see bands perform in front of their mother very much, so there was a certain charm there, especially when Joe promised from the stage that he wouldn’t swear. He broke the promise, but it was totally legit because he sang an old Scud Mountain Boys song that happened to have a swear in it. She was ok with it.

It was also the night, for some odd reason, that I realized the enormity of having twins. Stephanie was only pregnant at that time for about two months, I believe, so we were still keeping it all a big secret. I remember during the Pernice Brothers set having to go downstairs for a minute just to sit there by myself, with my thoughts. It was a heavy moment.

The other memorable part of the night was that Elvis Perkins opened the show. I hadn’t seen him before, only heard OF him. He is the son of actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson, if that means anything to you. Anyway, his set was par excellence. A slew of big band instruments, a warm vibe and overall well put-together songs. His debut album was very good, not great. So it was with some anticipation when I heard about his second long-player. It’s called “Elvis Perkins in Dearland” and it most definitely a step up from his previous work. Keep an eye on this guy, because his stuff is solid. Check out “Shampoo” below……..love this song!

[audio:shampoo.mp3]