Acoustic Alchemists Showcase at Outlaw Cigar & Brewery

North Kansas City’s Outlaw Cigar & Brewery hosted the Acoustic Alchemists last Saturday on June 28th. It made for a night of local music that was so mesmerizing that you would forget to ash your cigarette and have to relight it (true story).

Vanessa Hodges founded Acoustic Alchemists as an offshoot of FacemelterKCmusic to focus on and highlight more acoustic based music. Hodges, as manager/owner of Acoustic Alchemists, describes A.A. as “a collective of musicians looking to collaborate with other musicians, and foster community within and support each other.”

Saturday’s show had 10 acts featured - Bard Eclectic, B Howard Crist, Brandon Stuart, Chris Roach, Jimmy Peck, Jordan Lewis, Lumo Rowena, Michael Mcewan, Twin Monarchs, and Yellow Bird.

Every musician was from the local area, and each had their own unique strengths whether it was through storytelling methods, onstage chemistry between musicians, or simply the powerful art of evoking emotion through music.

Before the performers went on stage, Hodges interviewed them. I love how her questions were both insightful and humorous, allowing for the performers’ personalities and humor to shine through.

The order of performing was determined by spinning a wheel - purely random and kept both the performers and audience on their feet in anticipation.

Aaaannnnnddddd. . .the wheel first spun onto Bard Eclectic.

Jason Baskin, A.K.A. Bard Eclectic, sat behind his bright red drum kit. In a lot of ways, the color of the drum kit represents the music that was about to unfold: boldly experimental, Bard Eclectic often includes tribal drumming, keys, synth loops, a talk box, and other unusual instruments in his set. One man with a whole lot of instrumentals looping, colliding, and forming waves that crashed into one large ocean of sound. . .

Bard Eclectic surprised me with a cover of a song from Lord of the Rings alongside his catalogue of original music. Most of Bard Eclectic’s music is instrumental, but Jason sang on some songs, too. Ultimately, there was high crowd engagement, with a thunder of applause as the last percussion roar ceased - not with a whimper but ending just as strong as it had started.

And the showcase had just started.

The second spin of the wheel landed on Chris Roach’s name. 

Roach is a member of the Kansas City-based band The Stacys, a band of brotherhood through a mutual love for grunge and rock music. He was joined by Kyle Sargent, who usually plays bass guitar in The Stacys but was on drums that night. As a two-piece, Roach sang on lead vocals and played acoustic guitar with pedal effects, with Sargent providing harmony vocals. 

Drawing from how the duo’s full sized band is inspired by 1990s grunge music, they played a few covers including Nine Inch Nails’ “Every Day Is Exactly The Same,” The White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” and a grunge-ified version of “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Sargent’s drumming was very theatrical, adding a PUNCH to the music. Their dark grunge vibes exhibited an acoustic edition of their band The Stacys’ song “Wherever I Go”; this stripped-down version allowed for the lyrics to be more predominant and raw emotionally. Roach and Sargent concluded their set with a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

One, two, three - and the third spin of the wheel landed on B Howard Crist’s name. 

B Howard Crist is someone who I had first seen a few years ago when he played at The Sip in Chillicothe, Missouri. I had seen some of his music friends’ shows before - Quinton Cox and Matthew Mulnix - so I was expecting some old school, classic country vibes. In some ways, I was correct – but Crist’s music also has something that I would call storytelling through songs. A lot of his music is less just simply being songs and more stories telling of people’s dreams, people’s hopes, people’s fears through life. This was something especially prevalent on Crist’s original song “Drive Away” which he played that night. While the studio version is full band, Crist played “Drive Away” with just his deep, captivating voice and acoustic guitar in a bare bones, emotionally honest style. I would highly recommend B Howard Crist’s music for anyone who digs outlaw country music.

Up next was Lumo Rowena. I had previously seen Lumo with their band Mooncaller over a year ago; I recall being blown away by their pipes and vocal range, and Saturday night was no different. They stepped on stage with a brown acoustic guitar, and, like with their full band’s music, Lumo’s voice builds a hypnosis. I was discussing the night with Jason Baskin later, and we both agreed that an appropriate word would be delirium, or a darker version of ecstasy and wild emotion, to describe the way that Lumo sings. Lumo commented during their set that they write music that sounds happy, except for when the listener pays attention to the lyrics. Their dark and moody music evoked a spell of captivation and left the audience clinging to their every note.

Performer #5 was a guitarist named Brandon Stuart. Stuart was the first person of the night whose music I had not heard before. I did not know what to expect, but I am pretty sure I wore a smile during his entire set; when he started playing, my first thoughts were along the lines of country hippie vibes. I am a fan of The Grateful Dead, and Stuart’s playing gave me a similar feeling to when I listen to The Dead - purely sunshine, happy feel-good music. Stuart’s vocals were what I described as soulful country, sliding slightly into blues style in tone and emotion. I asked Stuart how he would describe his style of music, and he said he doesn’t even know what genre he would classify his music as; part folk, part country, and all cheerful vibes, Stuart kept the night of awesome music going, and it was only halfway through!

The wheel landed next on Jimmy Peck’s name.

Peck is also a member of The Broken Kingdom, a band with members from Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago. His first solo single “Society” was released earlier this year, and Peck opened his set with the song. Peck’s music is emotional - angst, honest, and raw - pouring not only from his lyrics but from his expressions as he sings. A lot of his music deals with topics of depression, wandering the world, fear, loss, desperation - but also, and argumentatively ultimately, focusing on hope and spirituality. Peck’s acoustic style exhibited a driving energy. Another original song he played called “Scatter My Ashes” was met with a lot of applause and cheers.

Michael Mcewan followed. I was not familiar with Mcewan’s music prior to this show, but I knew that Vanessa Hodges has an ear for hidden musical treasures. Mcewan walked on stage with a beige acoustic guitar. Baskin joined Mcewan with a cajón and egg shakers. There was very much a ‘native’ sound to the music; it felt primitive in an authentic acoustic manner. Mcewan had a soulful country voice genre-wise resembled a crossroads where folk music and country music meet. His lyrics told tales about heartbreak, drinking, regret, and loss. Baskin’s duel percussion with both the cajón and egg shakers being played simultaneously added an interesting character to the music - creating another layer of sound and support.

The third to last act of the night was Yellow Bird. The first time I had seen Yellow Bird was back in February at VIVO. If ya dig punk, you will dig Yellow Bird. The freewheeling acoustic purely Kansas City punk woman will draw you in with her Alanis Morissette-esuqe ‘grit’ gravel sound in her voice as she sings about indulgence, poverty, defiance, confidence, and above all hope. I would describe Yellow Bird’s music as being punk love songs to KC. Her fierce attitude captivated the audience, drawing in people to listen - no, demanding that people listen. Yellow Bird has a few original songs that capture her unapologetic, raw style including “Kansas City Trash” and “Devil Song.” For her last song, Yellow Bird did a mashup of Dead Kennedys’ “Kill The Poor” and Ghetto Boys.

And then there were two. . .

The last spin of the wheel that would determine who went next landed on Jordan Lewis’ name, leaving Twin Monarchs to close out the night.

I had not heard Jordan Lewis’ music until that night. Lewis stepped onto stage with a smile and sunglasses. I was pleasantly surprised that his music reminded me of 1950s pop/rock ‘n’ roll, channeling the emotional side of Roy Orbison’s voice and the vocal range of someone similar to Elvis Presley’s deep velvet tones. Lewis played acoustic guitar in a manner that was almost percussion like, building a driving instrumental. Lewis covered some modern country songs including Chris Stapelton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” and also played some original songs, with subject matter relating to regrets and indifference, but with a hope of turning around and improving. It reminded me of Don McLean (of the song “American Pie”)’s Tapestry album from 1970.

The last performer of the night was Twin Monarchs. Megan stepped on stage with a bright orange, sunburst guitar. If one were to judge her music based off of her guitar, words like “joyful” and “bold and bright” may come to mind. It is clear to see when Megan performs that there is a sheer JOY in their music. Twin Monarchs’ music covered topics of love, heartbreak, yearning, and happiness. Megan is a very expressive singer in the style that they sing, alongside the emotions boldly displayed across their face. Their voice simultaneously has soft folk vibes like Joni Mitchell and also power like Adele. 

Before Twin Monarchs walked off stage, there was one last surprise of the night. . .This fall, Acoustic Alchemists will be releasing their debut album, complete with an album release show at Lemonade Park on August 2.

Based on what I saw at Outlaw, I personally am psyched for this studio release. Acoustic music is a vessel that allows for stories to be heard; acoustic music in some ways connects on a deeper level when it is just one or two performers and simple instrumental. 

Vanessa Hodges’ Acoustic Alchemists are not only musicians but Creatives with a capital C, storytellers, dreamers, and, yes, talented musicians. 

And they have only just begun.