Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
Hi-Jivers
Without so much as a word of introduction, the Hi-Jivers launched into their first tune Saturday night at the Pabst Milwaukee Brewery & Taproom. Dawna Zahn’ s “don’t mess with me” vocals set the tone for a blast furnace of a performance and got the crowd moving and dancing, while the winter snowstorm canceled other shows around town.
The Nashville quartet’s set offered a master-level class in the music that turned into what came to be known as rock ’n’ roll. Mixed among original tunes, they covered Wynonie Harris and Howlin’ Wolf.
Building on a rhythm section not afraid to swing (upright bassist Hank Miles and the very musical Jason Smay on drums and maracas), guitarist Austin John subtly displayed a cupboard overflowing with a vocabulary of R&B and vintage blues licks from Buddy Guy to Hubert Sumlin. John’s tasteful solos were here and gone, fitting the songs like a glove.
Zahn’s growling vocals on “Get My Way” found the sonic sweet spot between bass and guitar. The band also acknowledged their influences with a slinky, imaginative, Latin-tinged take on Big Joe Williams’ “Baby, Please Don’t Go” that could have been an Otis Rush outtake.
Grooves ranged from the good-time sound of Slim Harpo’s “Shake Your Hips,” to the clear-eyed moan of “Death Letter Blues” by Son House, the latter of which includes the lyric: “I grabbed up my suitcase, and I took off down the road, but when I got there, she was already layin’ on a coolin’ board.” Toward the end of the evening, Zahn sang “I’m Gonna Miss You Like the Devil.” The mid-tempo burner served as an invitation for the band to return to Milwaukee.
Openers The Grovelers set the bar high with a collection of songs that wallowed in the outré regions of rockabilly.
