Brian Capps and the True Liars

Friday, June 24; Venice Café (1903 Pestalozzi Street)

Jun 22, 2005 at 4:00 am
The first solo album from Brian Capps, Walk Through Walls, opens with a dead-end bender with a backstory: "Now I'm sure I saw the writing on the wall/But it's hard to read the words from the bottom where I am." To get his point of view, flashback to 2001. The Domino Kings, the most promising honky-tonk band since BR5-49 clawed its way out of Nashville, implodes. Its two lead singers and songwriters, Steve Newman and Brian Capps, just about kill each other -- and threaten to take their hometown of Springfield, Missouri, with them.

Lou Whitney, the band's guardian angel and producer, eventually regroups the Domino Kings and keeps the sparks flying in the studio, with country music that's hard as railroad spikes and twelve times as driven -- sans contributions from Capps.

But on his upcoming Walls, the ex-Domino King smashes the barriers between country, rock, blues and rockabilly with his Cash-like, but entirely unaffected, baritone. He sings of betrayal, evil and living to tear up the honky tonks another day. In fact, he's bringing the True Liars (a.k.a. Lou Whitney and the Morells) with him live. They'll kick the shit and kick out the jams and rock you till your bootheels beg for mercy.

Doors open at 8 p.m.; call 314-772-5994 for ticket prices and more information.