SPRINGFIELD – It was early in the first set, and the crowd was still sampling their beignets and chicken sausage gumbo Friday night as Left on Tenth performed during the inaugural Bourbon Street Festival at PublicHouse.
You kind of got the vibe, just from the way people were hooting and hollering, that things were going to get a little crazy that evening.
It got more than a little crazy. People were dancing and partying like there was no tomorrow.
“We love coming down here to Eugene and Springfield, it’s always the greatest,” bass player Casey Kerrigan said. “This show was even more fun than usual. We had some friends that we had met in Bozeman – we all went to Montana State – you meet random people all the time so it’s always cool when you run into friends on the road.”
Kerrigan and guitar player Ian Bailey went to grade school together in Colorado. They met everyone else in the band when they got to Bozeman. At one time, they were a 10-piece band with a full horn section. So lately, they’ve been a pretty steady five-piece group.
Except for Friday night.
“Our horn players are out of town visiting our sixth member who’s on sabbatical in Costa Rica,” Kerrigan said. “They’re all having a great time drinking beer on the beach.
“So we wound up hiring a couple of good buddies who happen to be incredible horn players. We only had a very short limited amount of time to practice … and they nailed it. These guys are great musicians.”
Left on Tenth plays a blend of mountain music that’s been described as funk-reggae-rock, but the high-energy horn playing and soulful delivery make it difficult to put any labels on this band.
They’ve played all up and down the West Coast, plus Colorado, hitting nine states overall. They’ve warmed up for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and the Polyrhythmics.
All the while, they’re having a blast, whether it’s in Bozeman or on Bourbon Street.
“We don’t change for anyone,” Kerrigan said. “We have the horns, but we’re going to play what we want to play. It’s our show. We do our thing and a lot of people seem to like it.”
He’s right about that.
Left on Tenth will be back in the area on April 9 to play at Lucky’s in Eugene.
