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By: Jim Welte
William Elliott Whitmore :: 01.27.09 :: Slim's :: San Francisco, CA
 William Elliott Whitmore by Bill Adams |
Silence is rarely a musician's preferred feedback, and the undivided attention of a packed house is usually reserved for the headliner. But at a sold-out show at Slim's in San Francisco, William Elliott Whitmore got both, easily captivating a crowd that had crammed in to see City and Colour, the acclaimed side project of Alexisonfire frontman Dallas Green (see our recent review of City and Colour here). Perhaps more impressively, he did so with just a banjo, his feet and a voice that seemed to have lived far beyond his 30 years.
Born and raised on a farm along the banks of the Mississippi River in the southeast corner of Iowa, Whitmore has been winning over rooms just like Slim's for years with his brand of Dust Bowl blues and earthy Americana. Instead of playing coffeehouses and county fairs in his early years, Whitmore built on his experience in a failed Minor Threat-styled punk band and sidled up to opening slots for rock bands in nearby Iowa City. As a result, he's toured with the likes of Murder by Death, Lucero, Clutch and Irish punk legends The Pogues.
Whitmore lives on the 150-acre farm where he grew up, raising chickens and horses and writing songs about what he knows: harvesting the land and facing the dark times when crops don't yield. His 45-minute set was the deep blues at its best, morbid and solemn, soaring and spiritual - this was no indie rock kid taking a stab at old-time music.
Wearing all black and his signature trilby hat, the heavily tattooed Whitmore wasted no time in getting heavy. Stomping his foot for a backbeat and plucking his banjo, he poured himself into "Diggin' My Grave," a gloomy tale of doing just that. There were songs about the weather, hardened dirt and even harder people, with several lines reminding the crowd of the floods that ravaged Iowa in June 2008. "I can't tell where my pond begins and my cornfield ends," he sang.
City and Colour joined him for "One Man's Shame," adding heft to the track and allowing Whitmore to prove that his voice soars even higher with the rumble of a bass and some drums behind him. Like many of his songs, the track was melancholic and spiritual, with pleas like, "Don't alter my altar/ Don't desecrate my shrine." Minutes later, he littered "Float Like Anchors" with sorrowful lines that hit you in the pit of your stomach: "The hammer swings high and comes down hard/ drive another nail down into my coffin lid," as well as, "Sometimes our dreams/ they float like anchors/ in hopeless waters."
The string picking was solid but never shining, and while the lyrics held your attention and painted a picture of prairie life, Whitmore was capable of conveying an entire tale with just the tone of his voice. In "Take it on the Chin," he showed off his well-worn baritone with a cautionary tale to his son about the cruelty of the world. He finished the set by showing off his outlaw spirit, introducing "Johnny Law," a track off his forthcoming album, Animals in the Dark (out February 17 on Anti- Records), by saying, "This song is about how much I hate the cops."
Word of advice: If William Elliott Whitmore opens up for your favorite band in your town, show up a bit early - you won't regret it.
William Elliott Whitmore is on tour now; dates available here.
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