Shaking Tree

Shaking Tree‘s name pops up in “Everywhere,” a song from its latest CD, Familiar, as a reference to rustling leaves before a storm (putting the kibosh on rumors that the band is named after the moment in Cool Hand Luke when Paul Newman rattles the shrubbery during his escape). Yet this Lawrence band isn’t an approaching storm; it has been around for almost a decade, and its sound has evolved into something new. Leaving behind the early days of reggae on the Rusted Root-Graceland axis (that’s Paul Simon, not Elvis), the band’s new songs are deeper and more spacious — not quite Americana but not world beat or jam band, either. Singer Dain Estes has one of the best tuneful growls since the Geardaddies’ Martin Zellar, and Tom Waddington’s violin gives every song a distinct sound — the one that makes it clear that this is still, without a doubt, the same band.