For the State

March 4, 2008

 

Sunday, The Fish and I headed to New Orleans to catch a band by the name of State Radio at The Parish. Their lead singer, Chad Stokes Urmston, was previously in the band Dispatch. I am not a big fan of Dispatch, but I enjoy State Radio. They are a rock band that infuses reggae and folk music into their sound. I first heard them through a bootleg live copy of one of their shows because Chad is a guy who is not all about the hype and did not deem it necessary to record an album with the band in its first years. He is also very political but in a positive way and does not give speeches on it; rather he lets the music do the talking for him. The show had to be an acoustic one because their bassist had to return home to attend a funeral. Nonetheless, State Radio put on a killer set. They mixed the old with the new, had crowd sing-a-longs and had good change tempo. Thirty minutes into the show Chad broke a string on his guitar, then 10 minutes later he broke another one so he switched to an electric guitar. I would have preferred an all out electric show but I guess that leaves something for me the next time I see them. I could tell that Chad is one of those artists who is not only very gifted and knowledgeable about his craft but really has a passion for it. If you would like to check out some State Radio listen to there new disk, “The Year of the Crow”.