The 9th Street Stompers exhibit old-school prowess
Chattanooga’s favorite modern vintage band is set to release their first full-length album this week, eleven tracks of beloved standards, unique arrangements, and hot originals. The trio of Skip Frontz Jr. (string bass,) Lon Eldridge (guitar and vocals,) and Sampire (drums) is one of the deadliest combinations of talent around.
There’s no margin for error in a three-piece; each member has to be at the top of their game, always. The Stompers are the epitome of that kind of organic precision and flow, playing off of and supporting one another as though they were born to it.
The best of the best always make it sound easy, but the only thing easy about this music is the way it makes your spirit feel when you hear it.
“Chattanooga Blues” is an original tune dedicated to Bessie Smith. A musical tour of the early days of the city, it’s a history lesson delivered with such a light touch you don’t even realize that’s what it is until you’ve heard it a couple of times.
The only thing as masterful as Eldridge’s finger-tangling guitar work is everything else. The bass line of Frontz and the careful, tasteful percussion by Sampire are ear candy. Taken as a whole, it’s an outstanding track on an outstanding album.
“St. Johns Infirmary Blues” is one of the most beloved standards of any genre. It is beyond the scope of this review to list the greats who have covered it. It is a litmus test of sorts; if you can play it and make it your own, you’ve made your bones. Your band gets to feast in jazzy blues Valhalla.
It goes without saying then, that the Stompers own it. The interplay between Skip and Lon, the impeccable slide work…their version contains the kind of magic that can transport you 500 miles further south and a hundred years ago.
“Ragtime Monkey” was written by friends of the band. A jaunty tale of a monkey and a Victrola, the band delivers it with a toe-tapping ease that is surely putting a smile on the face of Leon Redbone in that great Speakeasy in the sky.
“Country Gentleman” is another original, a true story in which “the names have been changed to protect the ignorant.” The titular hero’s exploits with doom-saying preachers and adoring ladies make him the great granddaddy of the rock star mythos, slipping easily through life on his own terms and having a hell of time doing it.
“Some of These Days” is one of three tracks that features special guest guitarist Tyler Martelli. Speaking frankly, if I had the sort of high-grade bootleg-hooch-in-a-bottle this band does, I’d be mighty protective of it and I reckon they are. Martelli complements the band perfectly as the temporary quartet delivers yet another classic upbeat tune of a long gone era.
A rock band or a country act doesn’t necessarily have to be masterful; many are far from it. It’s perfectly acceptable to be “good enough” in those genres. The style of music encompassed by the Stompers (jazz/swing/blues) doesn’t work that way. It’s a zero sum game in which you either bring it all, or don’t bother.
Over the years I have reviewed more local bands than I can easily recall, with some showing great potential, others demonstrating exceptional talent, and a very select few being genuinely “the best”. The Stompers are undeniably in this last category. One may assume that there are other acts with a similar style that may be as good, but there’s damn sure none better and the proof is in the hearing.
9th Street Stompers…LIVE! is available this Thursday at loneldridge.com/music in digital format. Physical copies will be available anywhere Lon or the Stompers are playing.
With so much real talent and gorgeous music being produced locally, it’s impossible to label any single work as “best of the year”, but I can say without hesitation that THIS album is easily one of the year’s ten best and a strong contender for that number one spot.