The January Lanterns, Western States debut singles ahead of Biscuits, Beats and Brews
Soon at least a couple senses will heighten in and around Rocheport as quality bands and quality biscuits make their presence felt at the Biscuits, Beats and Brews festival.
Stretched over three days, the free event features a number of superlative local and regional acts, both on the main stage in Welburn Park and satellite shows around Rocheport and Columbia.
Presented by local eatery Ozark Mountain Biscuit and Bar, the festival moved up its date a week to ease the sting of this year's Treeline Music Fest cancellation, and organizers folded a few bands originally slated for that event into its lineup.
Two of those very bands released new singles this month, which you'll no doubt hear during their sets. Here's a quick look and listen at each.
The January Lanterns, 'Time is Softer'
Columbia duo Kristen and Andrew Camp make the music of mending. Ethereal yet rooted in the impossibly down deep, their indie folk re-braids frayed cords of romance, marriage and unmet expectation.
The January Lanterns' latest draws out those themes, making lyrical subtext musical text on a track that sounds like gentle stitching — sewing up of wounds, sewing together souls. Evoking the likes of S. Carey and the softest sides of The Head and the Heart, rippling guitars and subtle digital currents frame the duo's vocals, which bleed ever closer to unity.
The Camps sing of frustrating fits and starts, of moments getting stuck and unstuck on the way to becoming your truest self. "Growing older has been tough / Time is softer with you," they croon as piano and pedal steel figures swell soft and lovely around them. "Time is Softer" represents the latest passage in what is a career-long, catalog-deep mission statement about beauty and its healing properties.
The January Lanterns will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Western States, 'Someone to Blame'
Far be it from me to tell anyone what to do, but Western States have a natural show opener on their hands with "Someone to Blame." The song roars, and winks, from measure one, a funny and fevered heartland rocker from a band with members both in St. Louis and Columbia. (Bassist Bryan Maness is the principal force behind Ozark Mountain Biscuit.)
Frontman Tim Lloyd sounds like Lyle Lovett jamming with Derek Trucks behind him, as he unspools a kiss-off — and a neighborly caution — to the "son of a bitch" repossessing his vehicle. "But you should know it's burning oil / It's shaking in Drive," he sings, offering a degree of forgiveness, one working man to another.
From there, Lloyd and Co. relay stories and situations where fault could be assigned, showing how bitterness leaves you more stranded than when and where you started. Live-wire electric guitar, faithful fiddle and soulful stabs of organ frame Lloyd's vocals, letting this one truly sing.
Western States plays the festival at noon Saturday.
For a full lineup and more festival information, visit https://www.biscuitsbeatsbrews.com/.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: January Lanterns, Western States debut singles ahead of Biscuits fest
