We love us some Have Gun, Will Travel in these here parts and even though the rocking, swinging, heel-kicking Americana-pop quartet was spawned in Bradenton, we’ve claimed them as our own for as long as they’ve been firing up Bay area stages, and we’ve continued rooting them on as the national buzz has rolled in. Burry warbler, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player Matt Burke leads his bandmates through another fine suite of songs and sets modern ideas to vintage music on fourth and latest full-length, Fiction, Fact or Folktale?. The ride begins with the harp-laced stomp-and-clap drive of “Standing at the End of the World,” its surprisingly cheerful sonic quality contrasting to the dark lyrical tone; bops through the upbeat horn-tooted bounce of “High Road” (which has its own ale of the same name brewed by Cigar City); on to the worn and dusted stride of “Silver and the Age of Opulence”; and closes on a pretty waltzing note, “Take Me Home, Alice,” Matt crooning a yearning refrain: “Stay with me Alice, sing me to sleep, I’m only as good as the company I keep…”
Also celebrating the release of a new album: Atlanta-bred femme-led roots outfit The Whiskey Gentry, backing Kickstarter-funded Holly Grove, which features a duet with Butch Walker, “One Night in New York.”
Details: Have Gun, Will Travel & The Whiskey Gentry, Fri., Oct. 18, 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $10/$13.
