NOISE
BY AMY ATKINS
CAN’T SIT STILL Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park
passed away within a couple of years of each other and from that came Limited Edition Prince, an album full of “message” songs. “Something like [the death of your parents] will jar you into thinking about life in different terms. It certainly did with me.” McClain’s new outlook and new perspective became a framework for much of the new music. eople get saddled with nicknames for plenty of reasons, “Even the humorous songs took on that tone as well. [We need] but to spend your life being called Antsy indicates to enjoy the ride. Let’s hang on to each other while we’re all here something about your personality. Ron “Antsy” and love each other and try to make the best of the bad stuff when it McClain earned his moniker as a young boy because he happens and enjoy the great stuff, too,” McClain said. couldn’t be still. And But serious or to this day, the busy hilarious, McClain is humorist, Americana more than just a musimusician and artist cian. He’s an editorial hasn’t slowed down. cartoonist, a painter, With his comedic a drawer and a writer bent, comparing Antsy as well. His interests McClain and the Trailer are as varied as his Park Troubadours to mediums, and his work Garrison Keillor is includes a series of impossible to dismiss. whimsical, beautifully McClain’s oversized, painted guitars. black-rimmed glasses Born in Kentucky, and pompadour hairdo he’s lived in Nashville, hearken back to a Tenn., for the past 15 simpler time in America, years or so, and though and he’s a hell of a he spends much of the storyteller both in his year performing—both music and when he’s with the Troubadours entertaining a crowd and solo—he doesn’t between songs. But play much in his homewhere Keillor’s stories town. focus on news from “Nashville is kind of lyrical Lake Wobegon, a town like Los Angeles McClain’s Americana, or New York,” McClain or Trailercana, is often said. “It’s hard to keep wrapped around stories a consistent fan base that a person who isn’t [and] the gigs are low from a small Minnesota paying. I don’t play satown can still relate to. loons, and that’s about People from Los Angeles all there is in Nashville. to Louisiana will recogPlus when I’m home, I “Hey Fred. Do you think Antsy has any bread? Crackers? Maybe some shrimp?” nize shared experiences. just want to be home. The song “I Was Just When I’m here with the Flipped Off By A Silver Haired Old Lady With A ‘Honk If You Love little woman and the kids, I’m just going to chill out.” Jesus’ Sticker On The Bumper Of Her Car”—from his 2007 release That’s not to say he never performs in Nashville. It’s just that Trailercana—opens with soft, twangy guitar and vocal harmonies when he does, it’s usually to help someone out. When McClain and and the line, “I was feeling pretty Christian / I was loving all my the Troubadours play a concert at home, it’s most often a benefit to neighbors. / When I saw that bumper sticker there, I didn’t think raise funds whether for a large organization or simply to help out a twice. / My hand went for my horn, and I pushed it with conviction. fellow musician with health issues. / When I saw that lady’s finger, it almost put my heart on ice.” “It’s a rare instance that we’re like Mickey Rooney and Judy “My Baby Whistles When She Walks,” isn’t about a joyful Garland and say, ‘Let’s put on a show!’ unless it’s for a benefit,” woman but one whose body is full of holes from myriad body pierc- McClain said. And a benefit is what brings McClain and the Trouings. And sometimes his songs have a larger message as well. badours to the Egyptian Theatre on Boise on Friday, May 29. The In “Living In Aluminum,” he posits the sentiment, “There’s a lot concert is a fundraiser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, to be said about contentment / some folks never get enough. / Let which is one of the reasons McClain was willing to travel this far. me ask you honey, which is better? / A mansion full of money, or a That, and he’s never been to Boise before. trailer full of love?” It’s a bit sentimental but charming and funny “I’ve been through the bottom left corner [of Idaho],” McClain like its author, who can be serious and thoughtful at times, too, even said. “Twice. And I’ve always wanted to go before. Now’s my in his music. chance,” he added, laughing. McClain recently put out three releases in three months: solo Friday, March 29, 7:30 p.m., $15. Egyptian Theatre, 700 W. albums Limited Edition Prince and The Beige Album and New Main St., 208-387-1273. Visit rockwiththeflock.org for ticket Good Old Days with the Troubadours. He went through a period information or unhitched.org for more on Antsy McClain. of musical growth as a songwriter after both his mother and father
Troubadours play Boise benefit
P
NOISENEWS IDAHO GEM SPARKLES THIS SUMMER Singer/songwriter Josh Ritter will play two shows in Boise this July at the Egyptian Theatre. On Tuesday, July 14, Blind Pilot opens for Ritter and his full band, and on Wednesday, July 15, Tift Merritt opens the show and Ritter then performs with members of Boise Philharmonic. Both performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are now available via presale at brownpapertickets.com or by visiting musicfromstanley.com. They go on sale to the public
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| MAY 27 – JUNE 2, 2009 |
BOISEweekly
at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 28, and are available at Record Exchange, Boise Co-op and the Egyptian Theatre; or call 208-387-1273 or order online at joshritter.com or musicfromstanley.com. Tickets are $24 advance or $26 day of show. A special two-night ticket is $40 and includes preferred seating, a limited-edition poster and download code for new Josh Ritter tracks.
NO TIX AT RX The Record Exchange sent out a couple of messages via Twitter last week to let their
followers know that they are not selling tickets for this year’s Outlaw Field Concert Series at Idaho Botanical Garden, which includes performances by Reckless Kelly, the Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal and Lyle Lovett. And it may be a moot point soon anyway, since tickets were offered to IBG members first and are likely to sell out quick. For ticket information, call 866-468-7624, visit ticketweb.com or call Idaho Botanical Garden at 208-343-8649. —Amy Atkins
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