Tonight: Dollie Barnes, The Lories & Lomelda @ Ladybirds

Okay, I know it’s short notice, but I didn’t want to let this one slip past… There’s a cool little show happening tonight, Thursday, August 27th, up at a place I’ve only recently started seeing in the show listings called Ladybirds. No idea what it’s like, but I do know who’s playing, and that’s the important part.

At the top of the bill sits {Dollie Barnes}, a group led by ex-{Buxton} songstress Haley Barnes and including fellow Buxtonite Austin Sepulvado and some other names that look damn familiar as well. They’ve gotten some good press recently, and it’s well, well-deserved, not least of all because Barnes herself is utterly mesmerizing as a singer.

She’s got a voice that’s fragile and ridiculously high-pitched, with an otherworldly, old-timey feel to it, like she should be singing through an antique Gramophone or on the back porch of a ramshackle Appalachian dwelling. Imagine Joanna Newsom, but without the cloying elfishness and with a touch of Jolie Holland’s roughened, streetwise vibe, and you’ll be close. Take a listen:

Before Barnes and her gang hit the stage, though, there’s also {The Lories}, a loose-limbed, wide-smiling bunch of indie-popsters who sound like they’ve locked themselves into a room and played every single damn Sarah Recs or Slumberland Recs release ever at the loudest volume possible until they’d all absorbed the sound at the atomic level. They’re shiny and sweet, but with a nice bite to ’em, too, and a bit of a soul influence besides.

(Oh, and as an added bonus, the band includes cool guy Kirke Campbell on drums, formerly of one of my all-time favorite H-town bands, Teenage Kicks. Glad to see he’s back in town…)

They’ve only got one demo out so far, but it’s pretty damn neat:

Opening the night are Wacoans Lomelda, who I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to listen to yet (although I’m disposed kindly to ’em in general, having gone to high school up in neighboring Killeen). They’re on the road, so get out early and show ’em some love (and maybe buy some merch & whatnot), too, alright? The show itself is free, and it starts at 8PM…