Talking Blues Band

Have you ever thought about tossing on your pajamas and building the biggest blanket fort you could make, and then inviting some people over to jam inside your own personal hideaway? If you have, you probably share the same sense of nostalgic glee as the people who came up with the idea of Fort Jammies Jam Sessions. Created by local filmmaker Benjamin Charles Chase and artist Savannah Jaye Thomas, this acoustic Web series will feature up-and-coming local bands, with a focus on illuminating the diversity and refreshingly original music scene that Chattanooga has to offer.
Fort Jammies will release two episodes a month, and each episode will feature one original track and one unexpected cover song. According to Chase and Thomas, "We want this to have an impact beyond the Tennessee Valley, showing off Chattanooga as a city that isn’t just brimming with talent, but united artistically where many world-class acts are being fostered. We feel that this is beneficial to us all, not just the local music or art scene."
For their inaugural episode, local folk rock group Talking Blues Band was asked to don their best PJs and curl up inside a lit blanket fort to perform. The band shimmies through a wonderfully breezy tune called "You and Me," a song that revels in its almost-twee tendencies and featherweight pop inclinations. But that's not to say that the song lacks a sense of itself, nor does it simply rely on the goodwill fostered by the band's influences. The acoustic guitar, bass, xylophone and restrained percussion all benefit from this subdued atmosphere, and this blanket fort becomes another place where the band can hawk their wonderfully folky, pop wares.
For their cover song, they chose to perform Bob Dylan's seminal hit, "Like a Rolling Stone," and although I would be cautious about any band attempting to cover this song, they do pull it off quite nicely—emulating the laid-back swagger and sense of helplessness that the song finds itself steeped in. The casual and laid-back interaction between the band feels perfectly suited for this unique situation, and they manage to pay respectful homage to Dylan without sounding like one of the thousands of other bands who've played this song live. It's rare that a song such as this is performed in a way that doesn't smack of imitation, but Talking Blues Band successfully channels the spirit of the original—and singer Noah Towe even manages a good Dylan drawl. - Joshua Pickard, Nooga.com

Chattanooga's verdant music scene has given rise to many bands whose music feels fully formed and complete the moment you hear the first note. But for most artists, this kind of cohesion take years to achieve—and for others, circumstance and time align in just the right way, and we're presented with a band whose sound has a lived-in quality and feels vibrant and wholly without artifice. And nowhere is this more clearly seen and heard than in the music of Chattanooga folk rock outfit Talking Blues Band.
Composed of singer/guitarist Noah Towe, bassist Sebastian Lozano, pianist Alec Coffman and drummer Schuyler Colling, the band has been kicking around Chattanooga for the past few months, playing shows at various venues. And during their relatively brief tenure, they've gathered a loyal following of fans who are anxious for any new music from the band.
Just a few short months ago, the band released "Through the Plains," a collection of five songs that skillfully treads through Americana rhythms, indie rock melodies and traditional folk harmonies. And though this is the band's debut EP, it never once sounds like the product of a young band—the songs shimmer, jangle and unfold in unexpected ways. Looking to the pastoral landscapes of bands like Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear for inspiration (but not forsaking the more muscular build of bands like My Morning Jacket and The Avett Brothers), they create vast expanses of anthemic folk rock that radiate an iridescent afterglow.
Opening track "Happiness Blues" feels like some adrenalized doo-wop creation—all fluttering beats and cooing melodies. There's a bite here, though, that keeps the track grounded and anchored deeply in its influences. "Through the Plains" takes a churning and traditional approach. It's a ramped-up folk rocker that's bolstered by an elegant set of piano strikes and crashing, clanging percussion. These songs find the band balanced between the cathartic music that seems to bubble just underneath the surface of the record and the glistening beauty of their folk ancestors.
Talking Blues Band could just as easily have been another Mumford & Sons clone, but their drive and creative spark keep them well above the beats of their genial indie folk brethren. "The Wait" ebbs and flows like a receding tidal wave, its acoustic guitar and gentle melodies brushing up against Towe's affecting voice. "Is It Alright" tosses in some mournful strings and elegiac piano, and comes away as one of the band's most forthright and honestly emotional songs.
But the stage belongs to "Winter in the Key of C Major," a thumping rocker that takes the best parts of each of the previous songs and meshes them together flawlessly. It's a fascinating study in rhythmic buildup, with the song circling itself again and again until it can no longer move—at which point it explodes outward, casting Southern rock riffs, emphatic percussive blasts and deconstructed folk rhythms skyward. It's a whirlwind of sound and tone, a Southern star ready to burst. And all we have to do is be ready when the music starts. - Joshua Pickard, Nooga.com