Fifteen years ago, a group of musical transplants to the Pacific Northwest who met at Seattle’s open mics came together to record their debut album as The Head and the Heart, which was later released by the legendary indie label Sub Pop. The album was met with critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to Americana icons like The Band and The Jayhawks. At Wolf Trap recentluy, they celebrated the anniversary of that record, playing it in its entirety, along with other songs from their catalog and some new music.
The Head and the Heart played The Heart and the Heart in its original track order, after which they left stage, at Wolf Trap on July 26. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Jonathan Russell, who hails from not too far away in Richmond, Virginia, came out with his acoustic guitar, but he wasn’t alone; he was accompanied by his trusty canine companion. (Those roots were evident in the latter part of the set, when they played “Virginia (Wind in the Night.”) I’m a sucker for a dog, so I loved this. He played a new song, “Clean,” introducing it by talking about the stigma that surrounds discussions of addiction, noting that, had he felt more comfortable talking about it, he might’ve gotten sober sooner.
Jonathan also did a solo acoustic version of “Beg, Steal, Borrow,” from last year’s stripped-down return to form, Aperture, after which the rest of the band rejoined him on stage.
Watch the official music video for “Beg, Steal, Borrow” by The Head and the Heart on YouTube:
The latter part of the set included songs from their commercial breakthrough, 2013’s Let’s Be Still (“Another Story” and “Shake”), Signs of Light, their 2016 move toward pop (“All We Ever Knew”), 2019’s Living Mirage (“Honeybee”), Every Shade of Blue (“Don’t Show Your Weakness”), and a few more numbers from Aperture (“After the Setting Sun,” “Arrow,” and “Time With My Sins”). For their encore, they sent the audience home with “Glory of Music,” ending the show on a high note.
Tulsa, Oklahoma band Wilderado got the evening started with a 40-minute opening set. I hadn’t seen them before, but they really impressed me with great songs that drew on their Red Dirt origins. They started with “Talker,” followed by “Higher than Most.” Between songs, they mentioned how playing at “Red Rocks freaks me out” because the altitude makes it difficult to breathe, giving Denver’s sports teams a particularly potent home field advantage. They kept things going with “Morning Light,” then “In Between” and “The Ocean and the Sea,” the first song they wrote together as a band. They rounded out their set with “Take Some Time,” “Surefire,” and “Rubble to Rubble.”
This was my first time seeing the Head and the Heart, too, though I’ve been a fan for many years. After many years of anticipation, they more than lived up to the hype, and it was a great show.
