GA-20 @ Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall

          I was in Spinster Records when I heard this brash and throttled blues album spinning as I decisively flipped through the wooden, record bins. Naturally, I assumed this was obscure, deep cut never to be found within an actual record store dig. But I will be forever grateful for these record store girls’ introduction to GA-20, an actively recording and touring band from Boston, Mass.

          Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall opened late last year and … it’s … fine. The venue claims to be rich and robust but it’s just a part of the “flattening” phenomenon in the metroplex. As Californians flock to the Lone Star state, it’s less about unique, little gems of places and more about open, industrial-barn door concepts complete with VIP boxes and private lounge areas. Some people like it … but it just doesn’t impress me.

          After four checkpoints: box office, IDs, bag check, and ticket scanning. I finally walk past the threshold to the concert floor and every photographer’s worst nightmare happens, “Hey there, we’re GA-20”. Fuck me. If they’re introducing themselves, this means they already played at least one song. I sprint past a sparse crowd, to the security man who has no problem letting me through the barricade. In a mad dash, I throw my camera strap over my head, kick my backpack to a corner and frantically mess with the lens hood and cover.  

          I hear the rolling drum beat with maracas, “I’ve got five miles, I have got ways to go And when I’m gettin’ back, oh, I’m knocking down the door”. Pat Faherty, vocals and guitar, with his quintessential plastic, black aviator sunglasses, blatantly states the first two lines of “Double Gettin’”. As much as I hate to admit this, this Stockyard music hall has remarkable acoustics. I’m not sure if that’s due to quality or the limited quantity of headliners who have performed within their first three months since opening. The fizzle out of this song is sensational as we watch drummer, Tim Carmen, bash a single maraca against the drum tops with his left hand and a regular drumstick in his right.

          I make eye contact with the security man, I hold up the number three with my fingers to symbolize the “first three”. I walk towards him to exit while the other photographers continue to shoot. He pulls me in and yells into my ear, “I’m not really worried about you.” This is the most chill security man I could possibly ask for. Over his shoulder, I notice a front row, a Spinster record-store girl bathed in violet from the stage lights, and beaming ear to ear. In the wake of COVID-19, you can always spot the people who will never take live music for granted again and people who are just there because a buddy had an extra ticket. The people who truly need this, all have the blissful smile and joy as she does.

          Matthew Stubbs, GA-20’s founding member, and guitarist, takes a beat to explain the formation of the band. Originally Chris Musselwhite was a former co-guitarist and frontman until another project piqued his interest. This is where Faherty comes in with his knowledge of blues, Stubbs says, “This is when we became a Chicago blues band … from Boston.” Stubbs starts detailing their journey on the road and eventually, to the Billboard charts. GA-20 was booking anything and everything they could even if the gig wasn’t for their target audience. After their sets, reluctant people would come up to them asking what kind of music this was. The band  got so fed up that the response became, “If you don’t like the blues, you’re listening to the wrong shit.” And, GA-20 means it … they printed it on shirts. “This song goes with that saying,” says Stubbs.

          I grab two vinyl albums from the merch table in the corner, silver sharpie in hand, I wait for the band to come out. I see the Spinster record-store girl making her way over, I make sure to thank her and Spinster Records for spinning great bands that people should know about. I decide to pass on Tyler Bryant & the Sorcerer’s Stone - or whatever that name was - and make a run for it after my records are signed.