By Andrew McClain
Contributing Editor 

Cory Branan came into Stickyz right off the road from Memphis, still wearing a suit from being in Brian Venable’s (of Lucero) wedding. He amicably apologized for being slightly late, though he was honestly right on time by rock n’ roll standards. Soundchecking for one guy doesn’t take long anyway.

After hearing Branan’s recent LP, “Mutt,” a loud and varied Southern rock album recorded with a full band, I was anticipating a show with a band. The friend who had first played me “Mutt” was with me, and told me that Branan doesn’t tour with a band, and I must admit that I became wary. I prefer my solo acoustic artists in environments like my living room. My friend assured me that Branan’s solo performances were always excellent, and I ended up finding that to be a little bit of an understatement.

Branan hyped up Maps & Atlases while soundchecking, conveying genuinely that he was looking forward to their show as much as the audience was, which, among other attributes, makes him a class act in my book. I bet the suit had something to do with it, too.

I definitely underestimated what one guy with a guitar can do, and I feel naive in retrospect. Branan broke a guitar string just one or two songs in, said “aw, shit, that’s an important one,” and gracefully replaced the string onstage while telling a joke. He claimed to be having an “off-night,” but the energy and emotion that he put into his performance was magnetic.

There were intense moments throughout that I could sense that I’d be a lot more emotionally invested if I were more familiar with his catalog, but I was still so drawn into the performance that I’d flinch when he’d hit his guitar strings hard, as he does.

Maps & Atlases put on an excellent show, bringing their proggy take on indie pop. They are touring behind their recent release, “Beware and Be Grateful.” Their bassist had a big bass drum set up on a keyboard stand throughout the first half of the show like Chekov’s gun, before eventually taking to it with a couple of mallets. The show reminded me of acts that I’ve seen in rock bars like Silversun Pickups with their dreamy-but-massive sounds. Ultimately, they drew a bigger crowd than Branan, but I feel bad for anyone who didn’t catch both acts.

Check out more pictures by Heather Canterbury.

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