Butch Walker Played The Independent

Well, who knew? Apparently Butch Walker is an avid reader of HAD - enough so that he made mention of yesterday's post at his show last night. We suppose he's right that we haven't really heard his other records, but the "hipster CORRECTION: doofus" (our bad) thing? You've got us all wrong Butch: hipsters won't even talk to us! But we digress...

Last night's show was a solo affair for Butch Walker. Walker played a mix of piano, guitar, and what appeared to be a Fender Rhodes. The Independent was setup in seated "cocktail table" mode, and the atmosphere was definitely what one would refer to as intimate. The crowd was clearly littered with Butch Walker devotees, and many of the tunes had a singalong going before they had even started. Walker played a fair amount of material off of his new record, along with some older favorites. Despite our (admitted) unfamiliarity, some of these tunes really grabbed us: in particular "Mixtape" is a track that's definitely worth your time.

Walker's live show was rock solid, and the strongest aspects of his record were paralleled in a live setting. His songwriting sensibility is dead on, and his vocals are some of the truest we've heard in a long while. There aren't many rock singers out there today who really have a huge vocal range, and use it in as versatile a way as Walker did last night.

The biggest disappointments to us was the absence of a full band. Not that Walker didn't hold his own over the course of the night, but many of the songs' strongest riffs were often absent from the tunes. It didn't make them any less worthwhile, but we did find ourselves humming many of the lead guitar lines when Walker hit the instrumental breaks. We're hoping that next time he's in town Walker shows up with a full band - we'd love to hear these tunes with all their riffage in tact.



More photos over at the HAD Archive

Butch Walker: New Record, At The Independent Tonight

We wouldn't typically go for this type of thing: Butch Walker, producer of Avril Lavigne, Pink, and Lindsay Lohan, has decided to release solo album after losing his home in the LA fires. It seems laden with cliche, overly self indulgent, and just plain outside of our typical realm of interest. But here's the rub: Butch Walker's actually quite interesting. For one, he owns therecordbusinessisfucked.com. What's more, despite all of his major-label cache, he's releasing his record independently, and attempting to work outside the system. It was enough to get us interested.

The record itself is a pure dose of LA power-pop. Think Gold-era Ryan Adams, or Sheryl Crow on her better days. Walker pulls all of his producer tricks out of the bag and delivers an album that manages to successfully jump between ballads, rockers, and almost-country ditties. On top of the slick production, Walker has some real songwriting chops: his melodies are solid and memorable, and many of the guitar licks rival the best we've heard. At times it almost borders on "Drops Of Jupiter" levels of saccharine sweet, but manages to steer of any truly disastrous turns for the worse.

Walker balances the mainstream vibe of his record by keeping his best traits close to the surface of the record. His voice is probably his biggest asset: it manages to have character and age, while at the same time still having the chops to pull off brave forays into falsetto. His lyrics are fiercely confessional: they seem to give a (at times painfully) honest view of what's it's like to be a rock musician in your late 30's in the LA scene. The two combined manage to temper the record's high level of accessiblity with a solid dose of personality and vitality.

Walker will be at The Independent tonight, and we're curious to see how the songs hold up in a live setting. If there's anyone that can finesse an album to sound good, it's an experienced producer. To keep those songs standing up in the live setting is another thing altogether.

Stream: Butch Walker @ Myspace