Indie. Country. Gothic. If you head to Miss Derringer‘s myspace page, you’ll see that this is what they’ve chosen to classify themselves as. Usually, I find these self classifications to be utterly erroneous, but in the case of this unique, female fronted, Los Angeles based band, I found it to be quite the opposite.
I entered the historic West Hollywood venue to find an extremely eclectic looking crowd. I had no idea what to expect prior to that, and the fact that I saw such variance in the crowd put a smile on my face. It’s always great to find a band that pulls together more than one “type” of person.
Singer, and well known Los Angeles artist, Liz McGrath emerged on stage in regalia you might expect to find on the women of a chorus line performing the can-can. Needless to say, it was interesting and quite fun. Liz was occasionally accompanied by two dancers on stage. This completed the already reminiscent feel of an early 1960’s girl group. Coupled with the rest of the male band member’s early country-style attire, Miss Derringer’s members were quite aesthetically pleasing.
Miss Derringer has put out two full length albums, King James, Crown Royal, and a Colt .45, and their latest, Lullabies. They played tracks off both of these albums, much to the crowd’s enjoyment. Miss Derringer had a very dreamy-like sound, attributed to Lightning Bill Woodcock’s lead guitar lines and the trem bar that he so often used. Rhythm guitarist Morgan Slade, bassist Sylvain de Muizon, and drummer Cody Cox provided a great rockabilly, early country and almost surf style palette, which all came together so effortlessly.
Each of Miss Derringer’s songs have a way of pulling you in. Most deal with subject matter such as broken relationships, broken spirits, traveling, alcohol, etc. Much of what all adults deal with, especially a touring band. Most of their songs do have a melancholy feel. But please, don’t misunderstand me, this is anything but negative. Bill Woodcock’s guitar work really does pull you in on many tracks and forces you to listen to numerous tracks which I think would have made a beautiful soundtrack to Lynch’s Lost Highway. And, if not that, then your own soundtrack to a strange, possibly lonely car ride into a desert town while leaving all the negative aspects of your life behind.
Tracks such as “Better Run Away From Me,” and, “Tonight I’ve Got a Bottle,” both from their 2006 release Lullabies, will surely leave you begging for more of Miss Derringer.
