Thursday, March 15
Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade
with the Oak Hill Drifters
9 p.m.
Will’s Pub
1042 N. Mills Ave.
407-898-5070
willspub.org
$5
The often raucous Will’s Pub will have to break out the blue and sepia light gels to set the proper mood for this blues, jazz and ragtime-inspired group whose sound was self-defined by the title of their 2007 album Modern Vintage. The NYC-based band pulls out all the instrumental stops – archtop guitar, upright bass, snare brushes – to invoke a barn-storming Americana that feels best suited to Charleston-dancing sailors on shore-leave
in the 1930s. Most importantly, frontwoman Miss Tess brings a fiery commitment to the proceedings and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude that sells the band’s throwback vibe as more than just nostalgia chic. – Justin Strout
This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2012.