Eric Lindell gets the audience dancing at the State Theatre. "DOC" HENLEY SMYTHE

Eric Lindell and Otis Taylor hit the State Theatre with their bands for a night packed full of blues

Date published: 2/14/2008

If there is any justice in the music business (and there isn't), Eric Lindell will be the next big thing. He's paid his dues, forming his first band in Northern California in 1993 before graduating to be part of the New Orleans scene in 1999.

He's always had that voice--full of blues and soul, often compared to a young Van Morrison. But surrounding himself with the right blend of musicians and maturing his songwriting skills have made him something that the whole country needs to wake up and pay attention to.

Lindell's recently released second album for Alligator Records, "Low on Cash, Rich in Love," is laced with the kind of grooves reminiscent of the heyday of the Stax Records sound, with a funky edge that had the dance floor full of Lindell's gyrating disciples last Wednesday night at The State Theatre in Falls Church.

We heard almost all the new album, including the first single "Lay Back Down," and it was evident after the first few chops from talented lead guitarist Chris Mule that these guys were high-energy fun. The twin saxophone-horn section of Jimmy Carpenter and Blake Nolte punched and wailed at all the right moments, while bassist Aaron Wilkinson and drummer Blake Plyant formed a rhythm section the Blues Brothers would have been proud of. This was no cry-in-your-beer blues; it was super-funky guitar licks, stabs of brass and blue-eyed soul blended into a groove that brought a smile to everybody's face.

I was delighted to see the band as musical guests on NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" a few nights later and saw the performance as proof that this could be Lindell's moment in the spotlight. Maybe there is some justice in the music business.

Opening the show on Wednesday was blues man Otis Taylor, whose latest project sheds light on an instrument centuries old but much misunderstood. Many folks assume the banjo was born in Kentucky or North Carolina--or maybe that it was a part of European culture. However, as Taylor explained, it was originally an African instrument, bought to this continent by slaves in the early 1700s.

Taylor's newest album, "Recapturing the Banjo," is about recapturing those roots of the instrument. It features some big names plucking banjo in their own style, including Charlottesville-based blues- man Corey Harris, Keb' Mo', Alvin Youngblood Hart and Don Vappie.

Vappie was on hand at Wednesday's show, where the sound of blues banjo was ably accompanied by Taylor's daughter, Cassie, on bass and Jonn Richardson on guitar. It's been called "trance blues," and it is unlike anything else heard before.

The set was rounded out when Taylor invited Lindell's band onstage for an extended jam that bought the house down. For the $13 cover, blues fans certainly got a bang for their buck.

--"Doc" Henley Smythe

Date published: 2/14/2008