Original Publication Date: September 14th, 2009

HICKORY BLUE has only been around since February 2009, but this increasingly-popular Wood River Valley band has already performed numerous times this summer throughout the North Valley -- everywhere from Papa Hemis Hideaway to Leftys to the Ketchum Town Plaza (where they enjoyed one of the largest opening crowds ever for any Thursday Ketchum Town Plaza Concert this summer -- and at the very same time Big Head Todd & The Monsters were performing up in Elkhorn, no less!). And now theyre making their debut at Haileys Sun Valley Brewery Bar & Restaurant this Thursday (Sept. 17th), from 7-10pm.

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REVIEW:

The truly amazing lead female vocalist for fledgling local band HICKORY BLUE, Courtney Lloyd (the very first band she has ever worked with, btw), has this posted on her Facebook page:

Hickory Blue came together cuz Brad Pearson and Lloyd wanted to share beautiful music with people. From their very first get-together, they loved the sound, and Brad then connected with his friends Ned Wheeler and Craig Meyers, who both play guitar. Craig was working with the talented (drummer) Jason Vontver on blues tunes and suggested Jason join. From the first gathering, it was magic!!

The first time I ever saw Hickory Blue perform (at Papa Hemis Hideaway, back in July), I arrived there feeling more than a bit exhausted -- just as they were about to start their first set, at 6:30 -- and thought I might just be able to drag myself through their first hour or so before Id finally have to leave.

Well ... three-and-a-half hours later, I was STILL there -- happily and eagerly basking in that very palpable musical magic of theirs, hopelessly smitten, endlessly energized and otherwise verrrry excited (and awakened) by what I had just heard and seen, as were several friends of mine who had joined me about halfway through their encore-inspired extended show that night!!

Ill tell ya, ANY band whose lead singer bravely takes on a song as unabashedly iconic (and, consequently, as inherently intimidating) as Over the Rainbow is -- and makes it VERY MUCH HER OWN in the process -- as Lloyd does with that Judy Garland classic is doing something very, very right, indeed. But that is far from being the only one of the tunes Ive seen them repeatedly perform this summer that have made me realize just how genuinely fearless (and peerless) this new band is ... as they continue to eagerly and happily put their own radiantly-creative stamp of accomplishment on songs as deliciously diverse as Heatwave; Grapevine; One More Dollar; the infectiously-energetic Bobbin the Blues, and the wonderfully uptempo and inspiring Los Angeles parody song, Freeway (my absolute fave of theirs, btw!!!) ... to The Pretenderss Dont Get Me Wrong; Guy Clarks country-and- western staple, Rita Ballou; Fleetwood Macs Landslide; Alisson Krausss You Aint Going Nowhwere and her equally-memorable If I Didnt Know Any Better; Amy Manns Phoenix (which includes the terrific and heart-wrenching lyric: I dont want to abandon you ... even though you love me like a dollar bill), and the Johnny Cash classic, Ring of Fire.

As with several other very accomplished and polished Wood River Valley bands whose lead female singers are absolutely amazing --Danae Commons (of Cow Says Mooo), Kim Stocking (of the Kim Stocking Band) and Lisa Whitworth (of FourStroke Bus), among them -- it would be verrry easy (and lazy) to just let Lloyd more or less carry the rest of Hickory Blue through their rather long and impressive set list.

But the band has obviously made a very conscious (and wise)

decision to allow each of its members to shine at different times -- and SHINE THEY DO, especially when Ned Wheeler sings lead vocals on Seeds & Stems (a stellar showcase song which sometimes also gives their similarly-stellar guest harmonica player, Don Yaeger, a chance to genuinely shine as well), and Craig Meyers gets a chance to proudly show off his soaring guitar riffs on Reasons Why/Wayside ... an unwaveringly-powerful tune which never fails to dazzle whatever audience is lucky enough to hear them play it.

Other Hickory Blue standouts for me include: Back, Baby, Back in Time; Country Roads; When You Say Nothing At All; Crazy (Lloyd makes a Patsy Cline classic every bit as much her own as she does a Judy Garland one!!); Just Like a Star; All Shook Up (the verrry entertaining and engaging Elvis Presley uptempo tune, which Lloyd likewise fearlessly throws her entire vocal range -- AND BODY -- into); the Oscar-winning Best Original Song, Falling Slowly (a lovely and loving tune from the superb 2007 Irish musical, ONCE -- a film, btw, that is positively brimming with lovely and loving songs, and one that I cant recommend enough to anyone who hasnt yet seen it!!); another iconic(Johnny Cash) classic, Folsom Prison Blues (which always affords a GREAT showcase for both Meyers and Wheeler to seriously let loose on their respective guitars, and which also offers another terrific harmonica bridge for Yaeger to happily soar off of); Nickel Creeks When You Come Back Down, and perhaps the song that most vividly and lastingly illustrates what Lloyd is capable of as an all-encompassing artist whose very bright (singing-driven) future seems all but completely secured already ... the quietly-beautiful and undeniably-resilient Leonard Cohen melody, Hallelujah (which I think is a VERY apt word, indeed, for how Hickory Blues often verrrry grateful audiences feel like shouting after theyve seen this rather miraculous and magical band in action).

HICKORY BLUE performs a the Sun Valley Brewery in Hailey (202 N. Main Street) on Thursday, Sept. 17th, from 7-10pm.