Brendan Benson and Cory Chisel @ Exit/In 12/12/09

On Saturday night I walked through the door at the Exit/In just as Cory Chisel (left) was hitting the first note of his first song to kick off what would be my first Cory Chisel live experience. Chisel, originally from Wisconsin, had a great voice, great band, great songs, and the perfect stage demeanor to make his set nothing short of superb. Checking in with the audience with a quick "How'ya doin out there" or "Everybody feeling good?" every couple of songs, the crowd cheered back with an extact "WOO" that typically translates to "Yeah I'm having a fun time", but this wasn't the only thing that Chisel asked of the audience. When it came time to do an acoustic guitar/vocal duet with keyboard player Adriel Harris, Chisel asked the audience to quiet down promising that if we were quiet enough to hear Harris sing it would be worth every minute of silence and he was right. The two performed a beautiful duet to a nearly quiet crowd that exploded with applause at its conclusion. From full out rocking songs to beautiful duets to a song that was heavily influenced by Otis Redding, Chisel has staked his claim in the Nashville rock scene. If you haven't heard his latest release, which was recorded at Blackbird Studios with a whole host of Nashville musicians most of which are of the Raconteur crowd, then as Chisel recommends, "...go to Grimey's and pick up a copy." As Chisel finished up his set, the Exit/In became more crowded and if it wasn't sold out by the time Brendan Benson took the stage then it was pretty close.
Benson (right), one of the founding members of The Raconteurs, has been touring this fall and winter in promotion of his new record, "My Old Familiar Friend" which is out on ATO records. Performing many of the songs from this record, Benson and his band were the personification of rock and roll. Some of my favorite songs from his new album that went over especially well with the crowd were "A Whole Lot Better" and "Garbage Day". While Benson is a founding of the Raconteurs, the songs are distinctly different from the Raconteurs, which makes his set a fun, new way, to see into Benson's creativity. In addition to playing a laundry list of incredible original tunes, Benson invited Chisel to join him on stage for a two song Tom Petty encore that consisted of "American Girl" and "Listen To Her Heart", which was an instantaneous crowd favorite. If you were unable to get to the show on Saturday night try your best to keep tabs on when Benson is playing in town again and be there.


Links:
www.myspace.com/thewanderingsons
www.myspace.com/brendanbenson


Other pictures from the night:












(Cory Chisel)






























(Brendan Benson)