Jon Stone was passed out naked on the bathroom floor, more secure when he was hungover than when he was not. Chord change. Drumbeat. He was finding his grandfather’s blood on a tissue in his old tackle box, his voice catching on the words “he hasn’t bled / for fifteen years.”
Strobes flashed across his face as he, bassist John Greenawalt, and guitarist Mike Kusek unleashed a slurry of deep, melancholy guitar chords.
The lights changed. Drummer Sam Carlson turned his face upward, his eyes filling with blue light as Stone decried the amateur mistakes of his youth with pieces that suggested he has moved, intellectually and otherwise, far beyond them.
Lucy Gellman Photo
Wednesday night, verve and versatility defined 10,000 Blades’ performance at Stella Blues, where the band was performing for the first time since adding Kusek, formerly of Elison Jackson, to the mix. Audience members didn’t seem to have any trepidations about the band’s new configuration, or the plummeting temperatures outside, for that matter. Close to 50 packed the bar, drawn to the front of the stage as the night went on.
Orders’ Jared Blumer
Orders’ Andy Tucker
After sets from Jacket Thor and Orders, a relatively young band from Hartford that deserves a nod for their adaptation of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man,” consistent Colin Meloy-esque sound, and addition of ingenue Robyn Buttery’s violin, 10,000 Blades performed several songs from their early 2014 LP, Freshwater Muscle, which showcases Stone’s songwriting ability and strong baritone.
Stone, a Hamden native who moved back to the Elm City after school in Wisconsin, has the kind of range in his voice that contains multitudes. He is profoundly engaged with his lyrics, which twinkle and tickle with the complexity of whatever moment, family conflict, or present story he has been thrust into. In one strophe he’s almost soft and lyric, the catch of a banjo pick in his throat. By the next line, he has picked up the rhythm — and the volume — fourfold, tearing into a near-shouting roar.
With Stone at the helm, each member of 10,000 Blades was unflagging and exuberant. Kusek’s handiwork scissored open his guitar and tore out all its innards. Greenawalt made solid bass solos look simple (and really fun). Carlson, who doubles as the drummer for the Proud Flesh, was electric, close to flying with drumsticks in hand.
The key to their burgeoning success, Stone said — and they are still learning, in their evening-long practices in his roomy apartment — is that they all genuinely want to be there. He doesn’t have a magic formula, but something close.
“Yeah, there were a few bumps along the way. But we had fun.”
To learn more about 10,000 Blades, visit their Bandcamp website or their Facebook page.
