Ian Noe
Jeremy Ivy
Sleeping Village
October 19th
Ian Noe / all đź“· : Tina Mead
“I’m going to start with a song my wife does better than me.” Jeremy Ivey didn’t have to tell us that his wife is Margo Price as the greater part of the audience sang along to the chorus of “All American Made.” Even if you didn’t know Price or the song they wrote together, it’s still a sweet way to introduce it. His rendition felt lived-in, which makes sense. After all, it wasn’t a cover. Even the harmonica felt right, and I have been known to forward to the next track on an album because I didn’t jive with the harmonica. There was a pure, kind, genuine soul feeling about the way Ivey performed. He was confident in his music. This may be Ivey’s first tour of his first album, but he has been playing music in bands and with other musicians for over two decades. Going from a songwriter, collaborator, and killer lead guitar player in someone else’s band to voicing your own songs has offered Ivey growth as a performer. In a long tradition of songwriters like Dylan, Bragg, and Prine, his music is worth listening to because of the stories he tells us. I was completely spellbound by the truly stunning, “Someone Else’s Problem.” The lyric “Before your kids go to war, they’re killed at school instead.” An audience member said, “that is heavy shit.” Well said, my man. The heft of those lyrics were balanced by some delicious guitar work by Ivey’s right hand man, tour manager, and brother in music, Alex Munoz. Munoz also provided the country twang with some slide guitar work on songs like, “Dream and the Dreamer.” Munoz dug deep for the last song, “Diamond Back to Coal.” It was a standout song on the album and a really strong way to end the show. After such a killer set, I’m not surprised Ivey had sold out of vinyl on this run of the tour. It is a near certainty that Ivey will be on tour in 2020 opening up for Margo Price. I will be anxiously awaiting the official announcement.
The gruff whine of Ian Noe’s voice first struck me as odd with this young demeanor, but that impression fell away as he sang. His face reflected the words, expressing outrage at injustice and pain. He takes that anger and creates music so beautiful you can get lost in it. Even when they played an upbeat two-step, it was an exceedingly sad song, “Lonesome as it Gets.” His band moved, dancing as if seducing the music out of the instruments. The first part of the set built momentum towards back-to-back barnstormers. “Irene” got immediate hoots of appreciation from the audience as they sang along. Steve Daly gave us an almost psych-style guitar solo. Bass player Michael Zimmerman picked up Daly’s thread, giving us a line that zigzagged across his frets in intricate patterns. I wasn’t sure how they were going to top that, but then they played “Dead on the RIver.” The recording is slow and soulful, but this live rendition had fire in its belly. Noe brought all his passion to the lyrics and reveled in the talents of his band. Daly clearly knew he could shred out as long as he felt necessary, going deep into a trance of playing. As he bottomed out and pulled himself back up, he subtly nodded to the drummer, Erin Nelson, who rolled us back into the song. Noe gave us the last verse, and Daly plunged us back into that rolling solo. The second was even better than the first. Nelson wrapped up the song and brought us home. They gave themselves a song that was impossible to follow. So Noe took the next few songs solo, proving that he is the heartbeat of the music that brought tears to my eyes as he sang, “I'd Rather Be Over You.” I was mesmerized by the guitar work in “Strip Job Blues.” The band finished with warmth and grit to follow the exceeding beauty of Noe’s solo songs.