With a seasoned cool, classic noir haberdashery and a
velvety voice that resembled liquid panty remover, Big Sandy commandeered the SS Abilene and positively rocked all
souls on deck Tuesday night with his Fly-Rite Boys.
The band ran a nice cross-section review of its lengthy catalogue, from its seminal debut “Fly-Rite With…” to its
bust-out Hightone Records smash hit “Jumpin’ From Six to Six.” The kids went wild as the band
honored all requests, some even preemptively. I was winding up to yell “Miss Tracy” and the band was already kicking it
off.
As always, guitarist Ashley Kingman simultaneously waxed
cool while fanning the flames that engulfed his pants. With his custom guitar
and an antique tweed amp that looked like it was recovered from a shipwreck, this
m*****f****er can play.
Over the years, and with line-up changes, the band has seesawed
between classic rockabilly rave a la Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps to Bob
Wills western swing, but in searching these two sounds, among others, Sandy and
his Fly-Rite Boys have arrived at a sound that is all their own. It bops, and it
swings, as did the crowd full of smiling feet and jitterbugging mugs Tuesday
night.
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2012.
