If the vocalist of the Northern California country gold supergroup Brokedown in Bakersfield looks and sounds familiar, it’s probably because you saw her and her band The Gramblers playing a remarkably great stripped down version of the Hall & Oates classic “I Can’t Go For That.” Her name is Nicki Bluhm and the video clip of her Van Sessions take on the soulful classic, has taken the social world by storm and become a viral hit.
The video has received over 1 million views and Bluhm even received a personal email from John Oates himself. I would like to think the next step is an open invitation to jam with the duo Live at Daryl’s House but that remains to be seen.
Nicki Bluhm sings along side her husband Tim Bluhm, of The Mother Hips fame backed by some of the best musicians in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. Their setlist features a brilliant selection of often forgotten ’60s and ’70s country classics that fall somewhere between honky tonk and sweet country soul breathing new life into classics from Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Gram Parsons just to name a few.
Nicki and Tim Bluhm are both big fans of vinyl records.”We pretty much exclusively listen to vinyl and most of our collection is thrift store finds”, says Nicki Bluhm. She continues,”When I met Tim our vinyl collection meshed together. Some of the best records I found in his collection are old Bee Gees records. I was really appreciative that he opened my eyes to those.”
In addition to touring with her own band The Gramblers, Bluhm has shared the stage with some pretty heavy hitters in the past few years including Josh Ritter, Derek Trucks, and even trading versus on the classic song “Sugaree” with Bob Weir and Chris Robinson.
Brokedown in Bakersfield played to a jam packed Great American Music Hall and treated the capacity crowd to an evening of classic country done right. Nicki and Tim Bluhm’s voices blended together so perfectly that even a young Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty would be proud.
The rest of the band were flawless as well. Although I felt like I was in a Texas dancehall at times, it was my first real taste of the country western honky tonk movement that swept through Southern California during the late 60’s. The fact that it was done so well makes me want to see the show again.
A pleasant surprise in the form of a spectacular opening act called He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister quickly made a fan out of me. The real life brother sister duo warmed up the crowd with an energetic set that fell somewhere between the White Stripes, Mumford & Sons, and Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
I had never heard of these guys and girls before, but they had no trouble winning the crowd over early. Remarkably enough, their rhythm section consists of a stand-up bass, and a tap dancing girl using a bass drum as a dance floor and beating on two toms. It worked beautifully. This is my pick for breakout band of 2012, keep an eye on these folks.
If you missed Nicki Bluhm with Brokedown in Bakersfield you can catch her in her prime as she returns to San Francisco on May 17th at the Independent. I assume this show will sell out very quickly as Nicki is clearly on the path to becoming many a music fans latest bluesy rock n roll crush.
