I'm Just Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail

Sometimes you need a mini-road trip.

Ashland Coffee and Tea was the ideal destination. We took a scenic drive up Route 301 under a low-hanging yellow moon, crossed the railroad tracks and joined the Saturday night revelers for some music and laughs.

Nobody delivers both better than the Hot Seats.

And while the food is not the point, it's perfectly serviceable, with sausage and shrimp jambalaya and chicken pot pie providing hearty warmth on a cold night. Walking in, we got our hands stamped and the door person said, "You've been here before, so you know the drill."

While both were true, I was still surprised to be remembered.

Two-tops are scarce at AC&T and those they have are directly in front of the stage, meaning we got front row seats by default. There was the usual P.A. announcement reminding us that this was a listening room environment (I did a silent cheer when I heard it) and that we didn't want to miss "a note or a lyric."

The Hot Seats, three beards, two faces, began with an old-timey tune (as they called it), "Sugar in the Gourd." The exuberant Josh Bearman wore a light blue suit coat and matching vest, making him the most dapper Seat tonight, despite soon shedding the coat.

With the Hot Seats, you're guaranteed funny lyrics, incredible musicianship and songs spanning the early 20th century to current. Songs like "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," a motto to live by if ever there was one.

During a stage discussion of the five members of the band, a comparison to Voltron (and cats coming together) was made. Ed Brogan wryly noted that if they were Voltron, "That would make me allergic to myself."

I'm with you, Ed, but I'd be allergic to the whole lot of you.

"The Ace" was introduced as "having lots of words and it's really funny." And few bands do stage banter like the Seats. There were colon jokes, grammar jokes and daughter jokes.

"Everyone fancies us a bluegrass band," Josh observed about the song "Fun in Town."

"This is a little bluegrass pop for you. It's even got minor chords!" I live for minor chords, just saying.

Of another song, Josh said, "This is one of our newer songs. It features double banjos, so it's a hit." What made it a hit for me was the lyric, "Are you looking for love or the semblance of?"

Apparently the band took song requests on Facebook before the show and one fan volunteered "On the Road Again." "That makes me wonder if they'd ever seen us at all," Josh noted.

Instead they closed the first set with John Prine's "Sam Stone" abut the hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes.

We decided to spend the intermission trying desserts, namely the mocha cake with cappuccino frosting and the chocolate cake. Nothing like a sugar buzz when watching the Hot Seats.

The second set began with more dueling banjos and the lyric, "I ain't a bit drunk, drunk, drunk, I'm just from Alabam." It explains a lot, doesn't it?

The crowd roared when Josh said, "Now that we're all grown up and mature, it's hard to believe we were ever a roving bunch of scamps," before leading into their seminal classic, "Peaches" with Ben doing the vocals that took the song over the top. We saw Ed play bass onstage for the first time and from where I sat he seemed to do just fine.

As is usual with the Hot Seats, there was a jail set because apparently there are plenty of good songs about being locked up.

There was the song Josh described as his mother's favorite, a tad surprising given the lyric, "From her cooter to her pooter." Actually, it makes me want to meet Josh's Mom.

It was the kind of show where we were told by the band, "We would be remiss if we didn't sing a song about cheeseburgers." It got meaty suddenly before they closed with the "Maybelle Rag."

But the audience was having none of it and hooted and hollered until the boys came back out, closing with a Porter Wagoner classic, "Another Day, Another Dollar."

This is the second year in a row that I've seen the Hot Seats just before New Year's at AC&T and if it's a tradition-in-the-making, it's a fine one. I love a ringside seat for a bunch of guys talented enough to trade instruments all night long, sometimes even mid-song.

I like watching the quiet fiddle player Graham tear it up on the side while the others hog the limelight. I like watching Ben with his handsome David Bowie-like smile impress on banjo and sing so expressively. I like Ed's low-key joke-making, clever backing vocals and songwriting skills. I like Jake's ability to play washboard while drumming and giving the band "the look." I can stand some of Josh's corny jokes but mostly I like his energy and enthusiasm.

I especially like how even the band can't remember which of their songs are on which album. I guess I just like good music and laughing. And a nice road trip.

Hell, who wouldn't?