The Highballers: Soft Music & Hard Liquor

Recently, I was contacted by the bassist of a Washington, DC area band to do a review of their new CD. This is not an odd occurrence, if you've read Chels & the City for any period of time, you've probably realized that I am a huge supporter of local music and up-and-coming artists, the only thing that I found a little off was that I probably wouldn't have thought to listen to The Highballers had they not contacted me, which would have been a totally poor decision on my part.

Although The Highballers consider themselves a DC band, their lead guitarist, Sean Lally, is a Pittsburgher. They recently headlined a show at the 31st Street Pub in Pittsburgh and are now currently touring with their new CD, Soft Music and Hard Liquor, which was released in January. And while I would not have thought I would be saying this, I seriously like this band.

Their CD is something that you can listen to straight through and more than likely on repeat. It's what I would consider country and folky, with a quality mix of humor, wit and heartbreak and the perfect blend of smooth male and sultry female vocals. Which I don't comment on lightly, since I am usually a harder critic for female singers. But if you were creating a band and wanted a female who would complement your rough and tough male band vibe, Victoria Patchen is probably the only woman you would want. She blended flawlessly doing back-up for lead singer, Kendall Jackson, and has a strong enough voice to become the lead in some songs as well. The mix of these two singers and the strong, obvious talent, of guitars (Jackson and Lally), bass (Michael Barrientos), and drums (Drake Sorey), have totally sold me on giving this CD more credit than I originally thought I would.

To put it simply, Soft Music and Hard Liquor is really an album with a toe-tapping vibe that you just want to get shit done to. It's upbeat enough to keep you moving and yet mellow enough to be able to concentrate on any work you might need to get done at the same time. My favorites from this CD are; Live to Let You Down, Virginia, Better Man, and Doing Time in Pennsylvania. I highly suggest that you check out this band, at least on YouTube, and if you are able to, make it out to one of their shows.

This is a partnered post, but all opinions are my own.

Red Pants for Inaugurating

Have I mentioned how much I love my life? Because I do, a lot. On Monday, like I said, I went to Washington D.C. to watch the 2013 Inauguration. Point Park University offered a free bus trip to the city for about 60 students and since D.C. is my second favorite city, my friend Erin easily talked me into heading a few hours south for the Inauguration. And she easily talked me into it because I am all about once in a lifetime experience for free and the chance to see my girl, Beyonce.

Erin was also about to snag us some Gold Viewing Area tickets (what!) so not only did we have free transportation to D.C., we had free tickets to a prime viewing area of the event and Point Park hooked us up with free unlimited metro passes for the day. Honestly. My life is fabulous. I am so thankful. And the weather in D.C. was nothing like the freezing temperatures of Pittsburgh so we were dressed perfectly to be standing around outside for hours. After the ceremony, Erin and I planned to catch the metro back out of the city to avoid the crowds for the rest of the day, but as expected, a few of the metro trains broke down, probably from overuse and too many people on them, so we walked all the way through downtown D.C. since most of the roads and sidewalks were closed for the parade.

Eventually, we made it out of the city and to Bethesda for dinner at the greatest place ever! American Tap Room was the perfect place for our late lunch/dinner to refuel and not to mention, they had the best cozy, leather chairs. Sigh. I could live there forever. And then, of course, before getting back on the metro to head out of the city completely to catch our bus back to Pittsburgh, we walked over to D.C. Cupcakes, yes of TLC, to treat ourselves to some to-die-for cupcakes. My favorite: the Inauguration Red Velvet. Yum! Now onto the pictures, enjoy...

 

Feeling mighty American while standing here.

Gold Viewing Area Ticket

Glad I picked the reds for 30x30x30

Queen B singing the National Anthem.