With the digital reissues of Bloomed, The Hill, and Impasse to promote, Richard Buckner has taken his one-man act back onto the dusty roads he has continually sung about since his 1994 debut. Fans would be quick to tongue lash those who neglect the chance opportunity to catch Buckner in a live setting, as each of his songs take on a sinister shadow -- more mangled and heartbroken than the recorded origins from which they were birthed.
This particular Saturday evening, before the sun had even set on the sleepy Seattle hamlet of Ballard, Buckner quietly took the stage amidst dim lights, a hushed crowd, and a smattering of guitars — at least five that I could count from my vantage point. Without a word, Buckner launched into his non-stop set, mimicking the momentous roll captured in his one-track catch-all The Hill. Not once did Buckner take a breather as he weaved throughout his lengthy canon. The crowd was too frozen and fixed to dare make a sound, as Buckner ran through such favorites as “Tom Merritt,” “A Chance Carousel,” and “Lucky Buzz,” each sprinkled in between re-imagined instrumentals from The Hill. The only real peep heard from the crowd was the smattering of applause before Buckner launched into “Slept” and the amazement at his effortless shifting of guitars with the aid of pedal loops, slides, and an EBow.
What's particularly astonishing is how evidently alt-country Buckner’s crowd continues to be, despite his live performances bordering more on experimentation than any of his recorded output would allude. While the melodies and birthmarks that pox Buckner’s signature songs remain intact, he doesn’t shy away from drawing out something new from those old chestnuts. Often, Buckner was caught bending and stretching notes until their near breaking point, transforming complacent guitar plucking into Thurston Moore bastards. Whether he was in a sour mood that he poured into his setlist or just a man looking to liven up the old, it didn’t matter. Richard Buckner proved once more that despite being pigeonholed as an alt-country/alt-folk leftover, he’s more on par with the current crop of psych-folkies with his twisted interpretations of an old but fruitful style.
