Greg Cartwright, “Sour & Vicious Man” (live at Love Garden)

20101001-greg-cartwrightOn Friday night, there was a little pre-show for the Scion Garage Fest at Love Garden Sounds. Okay, technically, there were three: the official, invite-only shindig at the Taproom with the Spits, an all-local one at the Replay with the Spook Lights and Fag Cop, and then the one at Love Garden. However, the show at Love Garden was early and free, so that’s where the wife and I ended up, getting to see Tyvek, Nodzzz, and the last-minute addition of Greg Cartwright of the Oblivians and Reigning Sound.

He played a short, solo electric set, and to me, the highlight was this version of the Compulsive Gamblers’ song, “Sour & Vicious Man.” Getting to see him play from about ten feet away was frickin’ amazing, and I hope this video shows how powerful he can be, even when not backed by a full rock band. Apologies for the lighting – the Kodak doesn’t really do well in low-light situations.

Greg Cartwright, “Sour & Vicious Man” (live at Love Garden) from Nick Spacek on Vimeo.

The Parting Gifts debut “Keep Walkin'”

cover-parting-giftsAs I am a fan of both the Ettes and the Reigning Sound (and the Oblivians and Greg Cartwright in general), I wholeheartedly support the formation of the Parting Gifts.

What began as a one-off split-45 by songwriters Greg Cartwright (The Oblivians, Compulsive Gamblers, Reigning Sound) and Coco Hames (The Ettes, Coco Motion) quickly evolved into The Parting Gifts, who will release their debut full-length album this fall on In The Red Records.

“I thought, I’d write a song, Greg would write a song, we’d record them together, and that would be that,” says Hames. “Luckily Greg’s prolific awesome switch was on, and we got this whole record instead.”

Offers Cartwright, “I was just so impressed with how easily things went that I was inspired to write more material for the project.”

And as if the talents of Cartwright and Hames weren’t enough, the album features intense performances from Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys, BlacRok), Patrick Keeler (The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs), Jem Cohen and Poni Silver (The Ettes) and Dave Amels (Reigning Sound, Daptone). The result is an impressive 14 original songs penned by Cartwright and Hames, as well as a haunting cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Walkin’ Through the Sleepy City”.

The duo plays tonight at the Hi-Tone in Memphis as part of Gonerfest 7. Their debut, Strychnine Dandelion, is out November 9 on In the Red Records. Listen to a track from it below.

MP3: the Parting Gifts, “Keep Walkin'”