Live Review: Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, Laura Jean

Laura Jean and Marlon Williams have come to be like a one-two punch in 2015. Where one goes, the other follows. But damn if the combo hasn’t proved a knockout, as the squeezy sold out room at Black Bear Lodge will attest. Laura Jean sets the scene with her brooding, atmospheric folksy tunes. Playing the numbers off her self-titled record, she uses her voice like a terrific storytelling instrument. Strip away the music and melody and the singer would still be able to enthrall you in the narrative of her songs. A vulnerable whisper can transform into a hopeful bellow before it becomes something else entirely different as she tells her stories. Coupled with instrumentation that clearly benefits from an emphasis on minimalism, Laura Jean produces a set affecting in its slightness.

With his booming voice and charming raconteur’s smile, Marlon Williams was destined to enjoy a breakout year in 2015. But the singer doesn’t seem to be resting on his laurels and passively experiencing his rise, which makes everything so much more interesting. Not only is he touring a boatload, but every time he rolls through town he’s got something new to offer, whether that be instrumentations, interpretations of country and bluegrass standards or ideas about what he’s going to do with that giant voice. Tonight the singer and his band The Yarra Benders strike a delightful balance between off-the-cuff spontaneity and the kind of well-rehearsed professionalism that seems indicative of a serious artist. After a couple of numbers unaccompanied, Williams brings on two-thirds of his band to hit the harmonies on a rendition of the Stanley Brothers’ Your Selfish Heart that’s so good it could make the Soggy Bottom Boys stew their drawers. From there on in, it seems the band can do little wrong. Hello Miss Lonesome becomes a jagged murder ballad, while the quiet After All becomes a much noisier affair with Williams playing the electric guitar. Even in the midst of some of the night’s louder numbers, Williams’ voice soars over the mix. His croon compels constantly while he’s up on stage.

As Williams and the band continue to work through an oeuvre that feels a great dealer fuller than most artists with only one album released, you get the sense that they could probably go anywhere with their music. You get the sense that, on a whim, acoustic could become electric, a violin could finds its way into a song or the band could even do numbers a cappella. And that notion is exciting. Certainly exciting enough to make the crowd want to see what Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders will do the next time they roll through town.