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McKinley James – 9/21
September 21, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
We’re super stoked to welcome MCKINLEY JAMES back to the 443! Their last show sold out, so don’t wait to lock in your seats.
Still Standing By – by Tommy Womack
The first thing you notice about McKinley James’ extraordinary new EP Still Standing By is the serious mix of Motown soul and blues-based guitar playing. It doesn’t sound like the type of “blues” you get from traditional purveyors of the genre, but instead from a guitarist who understands chord theory so well you could swear you’re hearing a horn section sometimes. That’s because he leads a trio, and while guitar stores reverberate with licks from ham-fisted modern bluesmen when they don’t know shuffle from shinola, McKinley would walk into that guitar store, plug in, and summon the spirits of his own idols, nearly forgotten pioneers like Otis Rush and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Still Standing By is his third EP, all of them fine listens, and here’s the thing… McKinley is 19 years old. Already a veteran before he’s old enough to drink.
Still Standing By is a six-song feast. Produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound studios in Nashville, it’s soul music with a dash of blues growl, all written by McKinley himself (with Patrick Sweany on “Whatever It Takes [For Love]). “Stuck in the Shadows” sets the tone for the disc. “My early influences, there were no horns,” he says, “and so especially with a trio – I love the sound of horns, but you have to fill in the space without them.” In this way, he channels the great Chuck Berry, whose patented double stops were written to take the place of horns he didn’t have either.
“Clear Skies” is Motown and Rank & File put together with a visit from Tom Petty’s ghost if you can imagine that. It’s also actually not unlike what British legends The Jam sounded like as they transitioned from rock to R&B. “Whatever it Takes” follows the same lead and dare one say, shows the direction Hendrix might have gone, had he been able to change his musical setup and grow gracefully old like Clapton. McKinley’s favorite is “Spare Change Blues.” Of it, he says, “It actually revolves around the guitar I play now, an ES-335, because I really wanted to buy that guitar, and it took me about two or three months to pay for it. That’s when I got the idea for “Spare Change Blues” because I couldn’t be like, ‘Here you go, here’s all the money! I’m buying the guitar right now.’ I had to work up to it.”
Already a seasoned road dog who missed his own high school graduation for a gig, things are now heating back up in the wake of the pandemic, as he and his band gear up for the type of touring young men are built for. James is incandescently stoked about the July 23rd release of Still Standing By, and given the music on it, he should be. So where does he see himself a year from now? “On the road, taking this thing even further,” he enthuses. “Everyone’s just so happy, and the band is ready to get out there. We’re just ready to go and ride it out. And I hope people dig the record.”
Odds are they will.
DOORS: 6PM SHOWTIME: 7PM
We have 4 options for our ticketed performances:
PREMIUM TABLES FOR TWO
Regular height table for TWO PEOPLE (18 available), the back row tables are bar height (4 available)
IMPORTANT NOTE: 1 ticket = 2 seats. Each Premium Table admits TWO people to the show.
STAGE TABLES FOR TWO
Regular height table for TWO PEOPLE directly in front of the stage (2 available)
IMPORTANT NOTE: 1 ticket = 2 seats. Each Premium Table admits TWO people to the show.
PREMIUM SINGLE at Bar
Single barstool at the bar directly across from the stage (4 available, reserved for single attendees)
General Admission SINGLE
Our general admission area has 15 high-top tables with barstools. If you buy a GA ticket, you are guaranteed a stool and table, you may be seated with other GA ticket holders in order to maximize seating.