The unfamiliar Caves
Andrew Ashby, a smoker.
It’s been an uncomfortably long time since we had a brand-new band to be excited about here in sleepy Kansas City — a new name to drop when people ask you what you’re going to do over the weekend. Now our chances of having to roll our eyes in self-mockery when telling friends that we’re going to see that same band our friends know we’ve seen seven or eight times are decreased by a solid three percent. Instead, we have the pleasure of saying an unfamiliar name and then being asked what this unheard of group sounds like.
The unfamiliar name: the Caves
The sound: pretty.
The Caves are led by one Andrew Ashby, who also fronts The String and Return (whose Web domain has been suspended — lazy oafs!) and does occasional solo acoustic spots hither and yon. “Talented songwriter” is one phrase that comes to mind when one thinks of Ashby, along with “tall sonofabitch,” “grand mope,” and “sex in a tire swing” (but maybe that’s just me). In any case, Ashby is a good songwriter, and the Caves are a band to watch.
I caught them last Thursday at Jilly’s, where they played their very first public show as openers for the Belles. In addition to Ashby, the Caves comprise expert soundman Dave Gaume on bass, Belles drummer Jake Cardwell on the kit, and — here’s the icing — In the Pines violinist Laurel Morgan and member of the Hearers Chris Braun on cello and keyboards. The music is gentle, melodic, melancholy pop that leans toward Americana. Morgan and Braun’s string parts are absolutely masterful and compelling in a way that enhances the music without overshadowing it. Morgan really seems to have found her niche in the scene — she’s becoming one of my favorite instrumentalists around. When you’ve got a couple of great, relatively exotic instruments in a band, you have to wonder whether the group would be any good without them. I think the Caves would — their songs are strong, and the core of the group handles its parts well. My only demand for improvement would be that Ashby sing louder. I’ve often caught him cooing and moaning softly into the mic, and I’m not sure how many of his musician friends have told him that he needs to SPEAK UP! Dude’s got things to say. We want to hear it.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing on record yet by the Caves, and they don’t have any gigs scheduled anytime soon at the moment. Consider this your advance warning. Keep an eye on www.myspace.com/missouricaves for developments. And next time they play, don’t cave — check ’em out.
