Hometown Heroes

The end of 2011 saw two local bands release debut albums—The Fire Tape’s Dream Travel, which we covered along with their release show in our issue from three weeks ago, and The Hill and Wood’s self titled album, which was celebrated with a release show on November 11.

The show took place at the Haven in downtown Charlottesville, a space that would fool you into thinking it was a church, though it is actually a shelter. Sam Bush is the chief musician and songwriter behind the Hill and Wood, a collective that has seen many lineup iterations over the past few years. At this performance, Bush was joined by a cadre of musicians who seemed to range in age from fairly young to fairly old, with Bush positioned roughly in the middle in his mid-twenties. His band included former Hill and Wood lead guitarist Chris Campanelli, back for one night to perform along with Bush and an ambitious lineup that included a horn section and three backup singers.

The music skirts around genres like pop and folk and indie rock without really committing to any of them, and that’s a good thing. Bush has done an impressive job with the tricky task of coming up with a batch of songs that don’t sound too similar or too disparate, rather they are just right. The release gig showcased most of the new record as well as a new song from the next record, a move that did seem to confuse the older folks in the crowd. On the whole, it was a solid and exciting debut from a group that has already made a name for itself around town and a compelling new chapter for a songwriter who certainly has some bright things ahead of him.