Seth Libbey & The Liberals
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Seth Libbey & The Liberals

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"Taking Liberties"

Taken from Jackson Free Press Vol. 6 No. 15 "Taking Liberties" by James Hughes.
December 2007.

Does your nose scrunch up when some journeyman troubadour lets you know he’s “paid his dues?” Mine too, usually, but it’s a claim Seth Libbey, who’s been singing and playing in public for half his 30 years, could get away with—not that I’ve ever heard him mutter it. For fans of Seth Libbey and the Liberals, some labels resonate, some stick in your craw, depending: old-timey, southern soul, redneck rhythm & blues (“hillbilly R&B,” in the words of one supporter) or drunken country gospel, as Libbey himself has been heard to say. These might be bland descriptors—underpowered rather than overstated—but a nice change from boasting that the band has no peers or predecessors (like some rock groups and their followers). Even as a youngster, Libbey was partial to grown-up grooves. He’ll tell you up front that his mom and dad turned him on to the music he loves—Muddy Waters, Motown, Merle Haggard—and he performs it unabashed and irony-free, though not so dead-seriously as an over-awed acolyte. “Why live in a van and sleep on couches and drive five hours a day just to play the same stuff every night?” Libbey says, explaining why he loathes cover bands that don’t make the songs their own and why he never uses a set list. No early days as a pouty poser shadow him, though he’s quick to rank punk outfit Social Distortion right up there with Robert Johnson, Little Walter and Etta James. He counts himself a fan of R.L. Burnside and Cary Hudson, both of whom he’s shared a stage with. Some may remember teenage Seth showing up for open-mic at the Biscuit Company in Vicksburg with his harmonica belt strapped on. I wasn’t along for the ride the night he gave my brother (who eventually helped make a movie about the place) directions to the Subway Lounge, but I don’t doubt Libbey when he says the late Levon Lindsey used to introduce him to the Subway crowd as “my son.” Libbey remembers the Biscuit Company in its ’90s heyday as a friendly but intense scene that “taught you how to be a performer,” with listeners sitting so close “you could hear what (they) were saying about you.” I recall a slightly maniacal, curly-blond youngster with harps for all the major keys girdling his waist, wailing into the microphone come hell or high water. (The Biscuit later drowned in a terrible flood and today sits bereft, forsaken by the city and the downtown developers.) And then, some years later, I recall a still-energetic but more-relaxed (and longer-haired) old hand, fronting his own combo at Fenian’s, joking with the audience and drawing from a deep bag of American songs. The band is aptly named, if by “Liberals” they mean to cover a wide range of musical style. Think Sly Stone meets Johnny Cash—an old field holler, “pick a bale of cotton,” becomes the refrain of a bluesy Seth original. Here’s some Marvin Gaye to sweeten—no, scratch that, to go with—the naked lust of “Northeast Texas Women,” a song by the same guy who wrote “Muskrat Love” (or “Muskrat Candlelight,” as it was first called), roughened up by the Liberals so that it crunches like early Z.Z. Top. A friend of mine likens Libbey to Donovan on speed, or Dancing Goat coffee (the house brew at Hwy. 61 Café, where Libbey sometimes plays). But which Donovan—the young Dylan disciple or the later hurdy-gurdy man? A blend of both, I think, but with some Otis Redding in his gut to go with the caffeine. With the Liberals revving him up further—Stan Black on lead guitar, Derrick Patton on bass, Matt Newman on drums—he’s liable to jump on tables or offer up the joint’s appliances and furnishings as door prizes. I’ll spare you further “sounds-like” noodling. Go hear Seth Libbey and the Liberals for yourself, if you haven’t already.

- Jackson Free Press


"Seth Libbey and the Liberals to shake up Larry's"

Seth Libbey and the Liberals to shake up Larry's
Leslie Hazzlerigg


Seth LIbbey and the Liberals bring their bluesy rock 'n' roll to the stage at Proud Larry's tonight. The show should start around 10.

Seth Libbey and the Liberals will shake your hips and the walls tonight at Proud Larry’s with their heel-stompin’, bluesy rock ‘n’ roll.

The show is scheduled to start at 10 p.m., and you can count on the Liberals to bring a rockin’ party with their loud, Southern sound.

With Seth Libbey on harmonica, acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Stan “the Man” Black on lead guitar, Nathans Robbins on the bass, and Steve Altenberry on the drums, the Liberals’ music has a strong Mississippi sound.

The power of the Mississippi River definitely runs through Libby’s veins and comes out through his harmonica and acoustic guitar.

Robbins describes their music as being “definitely rooted in the blues.”

Black, originally from San Diego, really brings a funky R&B sound to the stage with his great guitar playing skills.

Libbey said Black “plays on the two and the four.”

Libbey has played with great blues musicians like R.L. Burnside and King Edward.

He said he has been strongly influenced by the old country of Merl Haggard, the blues of Mississippi and the rock ‘n’ roll of Van Morrison.

“I guess I could be genuine and say that we are Southern rock because we are loud, but we’re really just drunken country gospel,” Libby said.

The Liberals are no strangers to our great city of Oxford.

They have played at Two Stick in the past and have also packed out the Library with Daybreakdown last October.

They have also hit up a lot of other hot bars in Mississippi like George Street Grocery and Fenian’s Irish Pub in Jackson, Mugshot’s in Hattiesburg and Amanda’s in Vicksburg.

The last time the Liberal’s played at George Street, Libbey busted through the stage with his soul felt guitar and harmonica playing.

He stomped through the stage with his cowboy boot during his count off to Al Green’s “Love and Happiness.”

Black describes Libbey as wide open and musically adventurous.

“I’ve seen him jump on top of tables and all kinds of stuff,” Black said.

“He might stand on the drum set or play acoustic behind his head. You don’t see that too often.”

Libbey and the Liberals usually “just wing it” without a set list or any plan of what they are going to play.

Robbins said they just feel the crowd and keep playing what the people want to hear.

The Liberals are very popular among the college crowd, especially with the ladies.

Lee Morgan, manager of George Street Grocery in Jackson, said the ladies love to dance to the Liberals’ “hillbilly soul” sounds.

If you want to shake your hips and stomp your feet, swing by Larry’s tonight and check out this group out.


- The Daily Mississippian


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Taken from Jackson Free Press Vol. 6 No. 15 "Taking Liberties" by James Hughes.
December 2007.

Does your nose scrunch up when some journeyman troubadour lets you know he’s “paid his dues?” Mine too, usually, but it’s a claim Seth Libbey, who’s been singing and playing in public for half his 30 years, could get away with—not that I’ve ever heard him mutter it. For fans of Seth Libbey and the Liberals, some labels resonate, some stick in your craw, depending: old-timey, southern soul, redneck rhythm & blues (“hillbilly R&B,” in the words of one supporter) or drunken country gospel, as Libbey himself has been heard to say. These might be bland descriptors—underpowered rather than overstated—but a nice change from boasting that the band has no peers or predecessors (like some rock groups and their followers). Even as a youngster, Libbey was partial to grown-up grooves. He’ll tell you up front that his mom and dad turned him on to the music he loves—Muddy Waters, Motown, Merle Haggard—and he performs it unabashed and irony-free, though not so dead-seriously as an over-awed acolyte. “Why live in a van and sleep on couches and drive five hours a day just to play the same stuff every night?” Libbey says, explaining why he loathes cover bands that don’t make the songs their own and why he never uses a set list. No early days as a pouty poser shadow him, though he’s quick to rank punk outfit Social Distortion right up there with Robert Johnson, Little Walter and Etta James. He counts himself a fan of R.L. Burnside and Cary Hudson, both of whom he’s shared a stage with. Some may remember teenage Seth showing up for open-mic at the Biscuit Company in Vicksburg with his harmonica belt strapped on. I wasn’t along for the ride the night he gave my brother (who eventually helped make a movie about the place) directions to the Subway Lounge, but I don’t doubt Libbey when he says the late Levon Lindsey used to introduce him to the Subway crowd as “my son.” Libbey remembers the Biscuit Company in its ’90s heyday as a friendly but intense scene that “taught you how to be a performer,” with listeners sitting so close “you could hear what (they) were saying about you.” I recall a slightly maniacal, curly-blond youngster with harps for all the major keys girdling his waist, wailing into the microphone come hell or high water. (The Biscuit later drowned in a terrible flood and today sits bereft, forsaken by the city and the downtown developers.) And then, some years later, I recall a still-energetic but more-relaxed (and longer-haired) old hand, fronting his own combo at Fenian’s, joking with the audience and drawing from a deep bag of American songs. The band is aptly named, if by “Liberals” they mean to cover a wide range of musical style. Think Sly Stone meets Johnny Cash—an old field holler, “pick a bale of cotton,” becomes the refrain of a bluesy Seth original. Here’s some Marvin Gaye to sweeten—no, scratch that, to go with—the naked lust of “Northeast Texas Women,” a song by the same guy who wrote “Muskrat Love” (or “Muskrat Candlelight,” as it was first called), roughened up by the Liberals so that it crunches like early Z.Z. Top. A friend of mine likens Libbey to Donovan on speed, or Dancing Goat coffee (the house brew at Hwy. 61 Café, where Libbey sometimes plays). But which Donovan—the young Dylan disciple or the later hurdy-gurdy man? A blend of both, I think, but with some Otis Redding in his gut to go with the caffeine. With the Liberals revving him up further—Stan Black on lead guitar, Derrick Patton on bass, Matt Newman on drums—he’s liable to jump on tables or offer up the joint’s appliances and furnishings as door prizes. I’ll spare you further “sounds-like” noodling. Go hear Seth Libbey and the Liberals for yourself, if you haven’t already.