REVIEW: Boulder Acoustic Society - Getting Bolder by the Minute - at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, October 21, 2009

Here's a new review by FolkWorks writer Joel Okida, special to the Guide.
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REVIEW:
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BOULDER ACOUSTIC SOCIETY at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, October 21, 2009
- Getting Bolder by the Minute - by Joel Okida
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The name Boulder Acoustic Society may sound like a monthly gathering of Colorado audio engineers, but, in fact, is the moniker of four lively musicians who come together on stages across the country to entertain many a sell-out audience.
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Recently, in the intimate confines of Altadena’s Coffee Gallery Backstage, the band presented their multi-faceted music machine for an evening of spirited song and a few stories from the road.
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With a sharp jab or subtle irony, they can get you grinning broadly to any number of rollicking up tempo numbers and then cut you off at the knees with a lament like accordion/keyboard player, Scott McCormick’s “Take My Hand.” From there, they take that lump out of your throat and boost you up with an inspired gospel hymn.
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Drummer Scott Aller has the tough task of keeping the beat and adding the varied percussive elements on the vastly different range of tunes that the band generates. Aaron Keim juggles the guitar, uke, lap steel, banjo, alto horn and cornet when not posted behind his upright bass and singing. Few groups can cover as much ground instrumentally and material-wise, but BAS carries their own adventurous Americana songbook and gave energetic readings from that eclectic repertoire.
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All songs are credited to the band as a whole on their recent recording, “Punchline,” but in concert each member gets a beam of the limelight. A song such as “Frog Pajama Waltz” allows ace fiddler Kailin Yong to show his bowing chops, while adding fire on any number of other tunes.
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Not many bands can be everything to everybody, but BAS touches upon so many musical areas that if they did a show comprised of early music lullabies, bird calls of the Pacific Northwest, Paganini violin concertos and the Star Spangled Banner on ukulele, you would only be mildly surprised, but not shocked at all by how well they do it.
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They are now on tour throughout the Southwest with a few shows in the eastern U.S. See them on the road if you’re traveling somewhere along their route. Learn more about this remarkable band at www.boulderacousticsociety.net
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Entire contents copyright (c) © 2009, Larry Wines. All rights reserved.
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