June Star April 3, 2015 Boulevard Tavern Charleston, West Virginia

For at least the last five years, some variant of June Star would load up their things, hit the road and eventually land in Columbus before heading somewhere else, then back home to Baltimore. I've seen them four of those five years- it has become an annual tradition. It was different this year though. First, they didn't make it as far north as Columbus this time, choosing instead to spend more time in Virginia and North Carolina before hitting Charleston. That was as close as they got to Columbus, so I headed down to West Virginia. Second, this was the first time I got to see the full band version of June Star. Three of the last four times it was a scaled back version, just Andrew Grimm (vocals/guitars/harmonica) and Dave Hadley (pedal steel). Finally, Andrew hasn't felt well the last couple times I saw them. He was "healthy as a horse" this night, and it showed. The intimacy of the duo format I had become accustomed to gave way to a furious dual guitar attack, with Andy Bopp sharing the duty, who also produced the wonderful new disc "Pull Awake". It was great hearing some of the older tunes that maybe weren't quite right for the duo format, and the new songs, a few of which have become personal favorites, were delivered with intensity. A couple covers, Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" and The Velvet Underground's "Waiting For The Man" were thrown in for good measure. Andrew's voice has a quality to it that I can't accurately describe. Twangy, somewhat raspy and a bit drawn out are a few terms that come to mind. Beautiful and haunting are others. Rounding out June Star this time was Kurt Celtnieks keeping the beat on drums.    

Set 1

1. Tether

2. Saint
3. Telegraph
4. New Jordan
5. Thunder
6. House Call
7. Walk Away
8. Baby's Got The Blues
9. Cora Belle
10. unknown
11. Passed Over
12. Apollo
13. Waiting For The Man

Set 2
1. Coma
2. Proof
3. unknown
4. Undertow
5. Hard Working Minor
6. Cortez the Killer
7. Valentine
8. Wonders
9. Highway
10. Count To Ten
11. Feathers
12. Atrophy
13. Pope of Mexico

Please support these guys however you can. You can buy some of their awesome music HERE.


Go see them them live if they come to your town, or drive to the closest town they play.

Visit them on Facebook HERE.

Their website is HERE.

Download this show HERE.

Download Andy Bopp and Dave Hadley's opening set HERE.