(Editor’s note:  We’d like to take this Lazy Saturday to point the spotlight at an Ohio band that never got as big as they deserved to and moved off the stage too quickly.  We’ve also got a track from somebody you’ve heard of before.  If you’re only here because you were searching for a Walkmen track, do yourself a favor and listen to The Shantee.  If you’re one of our loyal readers, thanks for checking in every day.  If you’re Mike Perkins, come to Cleveland Heights and play your guitar in my backyard.)

If you missed out on The Shantee, you missed a lot.  In their heyday, The Shantee were an absolute can’t miss live act that commanded fanatical devotion; there were several of us that would pile into the Dickmobile on a Wednesday to drive to a dive bar in Toledo or Akron of Massilon or Kent to catch The Shantee, knowing that the pain we’d endure at work the next day would pale in comparison to the transcendent tunes that would flow from Mike Perkins, Matt Morton, Ward Scott, Randy Browne and Shane Frye.  The Shantee put out two LPs and an EP before their unfortunate and untimely demise, but never really reached an audience outside of Ohio and its immediate neighbors.  I always marvelled at the fact that The Shantee was a regional act and felt that they were on the cusp of breaking to a national audience.  (In fact, I’d take the Pepsi Challenge on Four Now and pretty much anything else that came out in 2004.)  The songs were great, the musicianship was top notch and their ability to connect with the audience was unparalleled; from Howard’s in Bowling Green to The Lime Spider in Akron, the chunks of time that I spent with Perkins and company count among my most memorable as a concert-goer.  The music draws on the jam-band ethos, but infuses the songs with more warmth and emotion than, say, a twenty minute Phish freakout.  Morton’s guitar work was always great on record, but he absolutely shredded live.  Perkins’ improvisational skill as a vocalist was constantly engaging and his presence on the stage was both comforting and commanding.  The rhythm section of Scott and Frye was always lock-step solid and funky.  Browne’s keyboard work was, maybe, the linchpin of the whole deal; his departure might have been the beginning of the end.

For everybody who was at those shows, enjoy a little reminiscing.  If you were like us, you probably yelled “Rails” and “Moment” at every show, freaked out when “Glory” kicked in, spun in circles at the end of “Join in the Song,” laughed every time you heard “Fat Ellie,” got goosebumps during the three part harmonies and heard Perkins say something both inane and brilliant at the end of a riff, like “the moose outside shoulda told ya.”  The sun is shining in Ohio and if there were any justice in the world, The Shantee would be at the Robin Hood tomorrow night.

For those of you who aren’t in the know on The Shantee, we’ve got two songs below to help wrap your head around what you missed.  The first is “Rooftop,” originally on the EP Four Now. It’s catchy as hell and is probably the peak of Perkins’ work as an accesible songwriter; it’s also the song that defines The Shantee in the same way that a song like “Ripple” defined the Grateful Dead.  There’s not a better statement on what this band was about and what they meant to their fans than “drinking wine on a rooftop, good friends they’re never gonna let me down.”   (“Have Fun Today” is a better song, but for wildly different reasons.  Go find it if you’ve never heard it.)  Second, is “Room to Run,” which was on their debut, Lands Unknown. Morton’s guitar fireworks on this track were always a highlight.  Further, you’re not going to be able to be sitting around the two minute mark; shaking your ass is pretty much compulsory at that point.  Taken together, these two songs give a glimpse of the range the band had at the height of their powers.  If you like what you hear, hunt down some more Shantee; you will not be disappointed.

“Rooftop” – The Shantee – Brewmaster’s Gate – 2004

“Room to Run” – The Shantee – Peabody’s – 2003

To cap things off this Lazy Saturday, we’ve got a track from The Walkmen.  We’re already starting to bubble over with anticipation for their upcoming show in Cleveland supporting Kings of Leon.  In order to keep that feeling at a fever pitch, I’ve been listening to this killer live version of “A Hundred Degrees.”  Good luck getting this one out of your headphones.

“138th Street” – The Walkmen – Millwaukee – 2006