Track 16: A triple shot of Sourwood Honey

I love Thanksgiving. It's by far my favorite holiday. And I always look forward to heading back to my hometown of Columbia, SC for an extended weekend with great family, great friends, and great food.

And with the exception of Clemson's football team getting a massive beat down from USC (that's the University of South Carolina for all you readers from the other 49 states), Thanksgiving 2009 was indeed a good one.

I can't say enough about how grateful I am to my parents and extended family for shaping my entire life, but this post, these songs, and how I feel about this band is really for my friends.

I've been fortunate enough (fortune being completely subjective if you know any of my pals) to have maintained great friendships with a handful of quality folks since middle school. Some go back to elementary. And some I just can't even remember not being friends with. So Thanksgiving is always a good excuse to hang out with some of my most favorite people on the planet, drink beers, and just enjoy life.

I can't tell you exactly how many times I saw Sourwood Honey. More than a handful of shows at the old Rockafella's in Five Points in Columbia, several times while I was in college at Clemson, and a few times when I was living in Charleston. After seeing the band play at the St. Patrick's Day Festival in Five Points in 1998 (I am sorta guessing the date) I wrote a review of the show for a college non-ficiton writing class. The teacher gave me some great feedback on it, and that more or less gave me the idea that I wanted to try to write about music. And for about seven very low-paid years of my 20s I did just that.

I fucking love this band (sorry for the F-bomb, mom). And I can say with no doubt that they are a very big reason my idiot friends and I are all so into music and concerts. Sourwood Honey was part of the soundtrack to my high school and college years. And they more or less gave us all a first-hand introduction to improvisational rock.

But at the heart of it all were some great songs tinged in Southern rock. The dual front-men Ryan Goforth and Chris Conner were gifted songwriters and Conner's voice was amazing. Herbie Jeffcoat's guitar playing sounded like a hybrid of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts (probably a reason the Allman Brothers would become a favorite band of mine), and the rhythm section always gave this band such a vibrant pulse.

1. "Folk Song"

There's still some places in this world
where there are no trucks and trains,
and it's a hell on Earth for some,
but a heaven for a man that likes the beat of a slow pace

This was usually Sourwood's set closer. And it normally began with Chris and Ryan on acoustic guitars with the band gradually joining in. I love this studio version, though.



2. "Never Said..."

I never said it was easy to love me

This tune is arguably the band's masterpiece from their first album. The piano intro (played by Les Hall whom I met when he spent the night at our house with my older brother when I was in 5th grade) is just gorgeous. And the way the keys play against Jeffcoat's guitar (which smolders on this tune) adds a lot of great touches. And Chris Conner just sings the hell out of this song.



3. "Miss Misery"

Close my eyes, don't walk on my burying ground,
she'll be there when they lower me down,
tellin' you how much she misses me

This is another song that always killed live. Great lyrics and again some scorching guitar licks. Tell me you haven't been dumped before and can't agree with a line like "fuck my soul, 'cause I don't need it no more."



I could've easily posted about 4 or 5 more songs from Sourwood Honey ("All My Relation" "Anna Lee"). And I sincerely wish I could go back in time and see this band again. Especially whenever the last time I saw them was, so I could make myself remember every note of the show.

Sadly, Chris Conner died in November 2007. My heart goes out to the family and friends he left behind, but I'll be forever thankful for the music that he left behind. I'll play both of these records at least a couple of times a year to maintain sanity, and today was one of those days.

Herbie Jeffcoat still gigs around Columbia a ton and fronts the Herbie Jeffcoat Project. Les Hall toured with Howie Day and did a stint with Phish's Trey Anastasio. I actually did a story on him for jambands.com back in 2005 (http://www.jambands.com/features/2005/06/07/the-many-moves-of-les-hall-from-howie-day-to-trey), though I haven't kept up with what he's been up to lately. And I have no idea what the rest of the guys in the band are up to.

But if it's any consolation to any of the band members from Sourwood Honey, thank you all for being in one of my favorite bands of all time.

"Sometimes the honey sounds so sweet."

(p.s. sorry for the lame 'videos,' but my knowledge of iMovie is rudimentary at best.)