Raising Scarlet & Nobody’s Fault close out local town celebration at The Village Trestle

The Village Trestle closed out the town of Goffstown’s 250th birthday celebration with mega talented area bands Raising Scarlet and Nobody’s Fault. The Trestle hosted bands inside and just outside their establishment all day long as part of the local town’s celebration.

I came by at the end of the evening to catch Raising Scarlet finish a blistering set of rockabilly tunes. Fronted by male and female singers, Raising Scarlet played a batch of catchy, oldies-feeling songs that had a lot of muscle in their vintage qualities. Mike Myles’ guitar chords resonated with a healthy dose of yesteryear. His lead phrases rang with true, gritty Americana.

The rhythm section of Raising Scarlet make you bob your head to every beat, and they put a lot of twisty rhythms into the mix. This kind of music makes you picture motorists riding around in 1950s style DeSotos. It also has a similar beat and groove to surf music

Raising Scarlet played a song off their new CD, earthy, down and dirty, rocking out with a persistent nudge in their groove that gave the song an irresistibly knobby vibe. On “Let’s Have A Party,” Tammy Myles belted her way through the twisty rhythm of the Wanda Jackson popularized hit with a vocal that captured that old school charm.

It was Raising Scarlet’s rendition of The Rolling Stones “Dead Flowers” that showed how the band can tie old school rockabilly into the classic rock material that grew out of the blues. You would think a lot of blues rooms would open their doors to Raising Scarlet soon, as they offer something a little bit different from the usual faire, but not too far from the beaten path.

Nobody’s Fault, a trio made up of guitarist Dave Zangri, bassist LauraJean Graham, and drummer Rick King, opened with hearty versions of “Sweet Little Thing” and “Not Fade Away.” The trio started with a deep pulse in their groove and that carried all the way through their set.

Graham sang a hearty, throaty take on Nancy Sinatra’s “Walk All Over You.” She kept a heavy throb in her twangy bass runs while Zangri got a raw and wiry feel in his lead guitar picking style. One fan got so excited by what Nobody’s Fault were putting out that he got up and dance by himself and even cart wheeled to their music.

Zangri got a hefty reggae rhythm going on during “Everything Little Thing Gonna Be All Right.” He also pulled some funky sounds out of his axe and slid them smoothly over this faux Jamaican beat. Zangri’s true gift is being able to interpret all kinds of music to put his own inventive, personal stamp on things.

Graham handled the belty chorus to Sheryl Crowe’s “If It Makes You Happy” while guest vocalist Amberly Gibbs unleashed her sultry fire on funky blues groove “Shakey Ground.” The bouncy number gets by on its familiar but infectious beat. Zangri shot some icy cool darts of guitar funk over the rhythm line, and he really spanked that melodic phrase around.

“Bad Case Of Loving You” received the Robert Palmer energy level as Zangri kept his phrasing ripe and his chords fast and crunchy. He also blended right in with Gibbs on the high harmony choruses in “Angel From Montgomery.”

The Nobody’s Fault take on Rolling Stones classic “Gimme Shelter” offered up numerous nice touches. This tune plays with enough ferocity to make you feel like an observation plane flying in the eye of a hurricane. From Graham’s opening coos to Zangri’s gusty phrasing, this piece was rocking.

Guest saxophonist Steve Roberge was in the room and he got called up on stage to play his funky horn stuff. Roberge’s flowing sax melody breezed through “Gimme One Reason” and he came in handy during the Aretha Franklin classic “Chain Of Fools.” The horn was a great match for Gibbs’ vocal feats, her svelte voice breathed sensuality into these tunes and her belt veered toward tender raspiness.

One thing that can be said about Nobody’s Fault is they certainly keep a lot of people dancing during their set. I had to leave before it started raining too heavily to see the road back to my town. But I caught Graham’s sharp, soaring, almost anthem voice bringing an edge to “What’s Going On?”

Nobody’s Fault and Raising Scarlet should be getting a lot of work in southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.

Raising Scarlet and Nobody’s Fault are on Facebook.

Share on Facebook