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TWO GALLANTS
from Listen | Issue 18
by WMRE Radio
BY ChRIs BEARD
Originally of San Francisco’s Alive Records and currently distributed by Saddle Creek; over the past four years, the only home that Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel, the creative minds behind Two Gallants, have known has been the road.
Since their beginnings as Two Gallants in 2002, the duo have toured constantly, rarely stopping for more than a few weeks at a time to record and recuperate; however, during those brief spurts of R&R they have released some truly brilliant Americana. Relying on a base of delta blues coupled with punk chord progressions, the duo incorporates elements of country, rock and roll, folk (lots of this), and vir- tually every other form or genre of music that involves a man and his guitar. It’s difficult to classify Stephens’ and Vogel’s musical style, and frankly, doing so would insult the eclectic nature of their music.
The intricacies of music are, frankly, beyond me. I know what I like and what sounds good to me, and I can certainly tell a good song from a bad one, but beyond being able to tell the difference between shit music and quality sounds, I’m pretty ignorant. Lyrics are what I listen for, and that is, perhaps, why Two Gallants appeal to me so much.
It’s the way that they weave words and songs together that make them such a fine band. The music they make and the words they sing out intertwine perfectly — their songs
Two songwriters from San Francisco find their soul in the soil.
are more than just stories put to tune, they are portraits of Americana painted with sound. With vocals that span from screams of passion to melodious yet raspy verse, Stephens and Vogel capture the ears of their audience. The lyrical content is consistently mournful, though at the same time, it offers hope — a common theme in their songs is the victory for the underdog — an aspect to their music that could perhaps endear them to the general public given enough time and exposure.
As far as I am concerned, Two Gallants have the potential to become the next Elvis Presley, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, or Bruce Springsteen; musicians that despite their pop status still manage to stay true to their roots — the soil.
