Bone And Bell at Schubas

I think no matter where I am, in terms of my state of being I will have a soft spot for what music Bone And Bell does. In the euphoria of success I will still feel the quiet bittersweetness of Flying, Falling, Crawling. I suppose it keeps the hubris away. There are a lot of songs I like B And B for, but this first song leaves me awe struck like a deer in the headlights reflecting on the path his life has took. Oh look! The light gets more shiny! Right...So Heather Smith and whatever stringed instrument she chooses to play, uke, bass. The song is a shot of moonshine catharsis. Heather is a multi-instrumentalist, and is just at ease on the keyboard. If you hear the EP LOOM you assume this direction the band is taking you. A road traveled with Neko Case, Sharon Von Etten, Angel Olsen....the sweetness, and the sadness....awwhh. And then out of no where Heather goes to the bars and does like twenty pull ups....metaphorically. From fearing the shadow to intimidating it. Well perhaps that last one I can walk back. But what first attracted me to her music is her ability to articulate the vulnerable. It's not saying you don't see changes capable. But she goes from solidly sweet to badass dark from one EP to the next. I'm glad to see both sides in the same performer. Many of these songs have yet to be recorded but can be seen live and on Youtube. So I said the continuum changes from the LOOM end to the current Organ Fantasies. The changes can best be seen in the live shows where the songs Words Left Unspoken, Four Horses, Tiny Little Hands show you how to walk when fully armed.  It's that slow motion cool walk.....oh you get it. It's like suddenly she lights a cigarette with a match she sparked off her bandmates face. Those have that kind of coolness. Organ Fantasies feel like a slight lean back to what first attracted me to B And B, only with hardened wisdom. In Serpentside she sees the grand betrayal coming. Oh and this new EP is on vinyl, with the lyrics and everything....yeah download code too. There's space between all the instruments so that it's not all a wall of sound. You can hear how the individual gears work with each other, with the clarity of Heather's voice. If you want to catch exactly what she hears it's no hard effort. The live performances are indeed the efforts of all the musicians because Bone And Bell are a full band now. The guitarist is badass cool. It's not just Heather's voice that produces the effect but the guitar answering and asserting her verses. Yeah, Heather makes it to all the pictures....so?  We have here someone like Christa from Man Is Man that can forge many a heart heavy word into battle ready iron. We are in the middle of heavy times, just when such troubadours are most sorely needed and for me Heather Smith of Bone And Bell is one. Did I over sell it?  Sorry, just being a rabid fan.