Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside / Carriage House @ Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO

Words and pictures by Duane Clawson

“When I turn on my radio it all sounds the same, it all sounds the same”. Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside lead off the first song “I Swear” from their debut 2011 album, Dirty Radio, with this thought provoking lyric. With that lyric in mind, this night at Off Broadway was the anything but something that sounded the same. The local St. Louis area band Carriage House opened up for Sallie Ford with their entertaining, high energy sound that was somewhere between folk and heavy metal. Zack Sloan on guitar and vocals, along with Adam Donald on drums and keys, started as a two-piece playing in and around St. Louis after recording a couple of songs. Will Flesch was later added on bass completing this trio. In September of 2011, the band recorded their first full length album Besides the B-Sides, which is available for download through their ReverbNation and Facebook. Be on the lookout for these guys at an establishment near you. To keep track of Carriage House’s upcoming events, you can take a look at their Facebook page.

For those fortunate enough to be in the intimate audience, they got a real treat as Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside played an uptempo set and leaving their musical stamp on St. Louis. The band started their musical adventures in Portland, Oregon in 2008. With some help from the Avett Brothers, the band has quickly risen after the release of their first full length album, Dirty Radio, in 2011 and even found a spot on the Letterman Show. Off Broadway is a club that has a knack for catching rising stars and they did not disappoint by bringing Sallie Ford to town. If you are looking for comparisons, you would be hard pressed to find many, if any, at all. Mixing the musical elements of jazz, blues, rock-a-billy, surf rock, and Sallie’s unique vocal style combine to reproduce a retro but surprisingly contemporary sound. Sallie and the band quickly noticed the St. Louis audience curve (a phenomenon where the audience appears to be afraid of approaching the stage by forming a curve that peaks about 20 feet away from the band) and invited everyone to move closer to the stage. Once everyone found out it was OK to be close to the performers, the fun began. Even Zack from Carriage House found his way to the front of the stage to show off his dance moves. The band debuted some new music which is currently unavailable to the public but the band is shooting for a September date for these releases. Having made some new friends, Sallie invited everyone over to the bar to have a drink to close out the evening. After a quick drink, Sallie and the band found their way to the merch table to sign a few autographs and chat with fans. Thanks to Angie Carlson of Propeller Publicity for allowing MTC to cover the show. Pictures of the show are below:

Carriage House