Clumsy Loving

Rachel Walla

     Have you heard of the Clumsy Lovers?  They are a Canadian-based band that produces a high-energy mash of music that is a combination of Bluegrass, Celtic and Rock.  This creates a sound that is comparable to a band like Flogging Molly or the like, but it is at the same time, totally its own unique blend. 

    Although they’ve produced albums that have received attention from The Indie Acoustic Music Awards, West Coast Music Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards, they choose to function as a live band, touring much of Canada and 49 U.S. states.  Throughout the last 15 years, they’ve performed more than 2,500 shows and sadly, will now be taking a break beginning December 2010. 

    I went to their show at the Silver Dollar Bar on Thursday, October 14.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I heard they were good.  They showed up half an hour late as a scraggly bunch of musicians.  They weren’t disheveled in the way that a properly styled band is, more just like tired-from-traveling drab.  The drummer, Tyler Thompson, immediately disappointed a friend of mine who is a big fan of the Clumsy Lovers by no longer being the most attractive of the group.  This decrease in physical attraction was caused by a significant weight gain, not fat though, just overgrown with hair.   I wasn’t really feeling it by the time they stepped on the stage about an hour late and was considering going home to study, and then they started playing.

The Clumsy Lovers do know how to put on a show.  Had I known there was not just a fiddle, played to perfection by Rebecca Smith and a banjo played by Jason Homey, I wouldn’t have minded all the waiting around so much.  They put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in Butte.  It was the kind of music where you had to be either dead or ought to be dead if it didn’t make you dance.  The slow songs were good as well, and the performers really, actually performed with more skill than most.  Sadly, they only played until midnight, which with showing up late and a $10 cover charge, wasn’t that long, especially considering you can see them at almost any other venue for free. Even with all this considered, their music was so energizing and the crowd had such a good time that their shows wouldn’t be any I’d want to miss. In the end, the show was worth it, and I’d definitely suggest trying to see them before the end of this tour.