I guess pretty much everyone reading this on Americana UK is familiar with and, judging by the plaudits heaped upon them, deeply enamoured with The Delines; the dark twisted tales of the underbelly of the American dream written by Willie Vlautin and sung in rich, emotional tones by Amy Boone make for one of the most engaging acts in the genre. Before The Delines, Vlautin led Richmond Fontaine, singing his own lyrics in soft, weatherbeaten tones. Vlautin made 10 albums with Richmond Fontaine, from the alt country punk cross of Safety and Miles From to the more rounded but sparse alt country of We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like a River and final album You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To, before calling time on the band with emotional farewell concerts in October 2016.
He had already commenced writing and recording as The Delines, with Colfax and The Scenic Sessions from the Delines issued between The High Country and You Can’t Go Back, from Richmond Fontaine. He spoke glowingly about Amy’s voice and how he no longer wanted to be the frontman. Sean Oldham, longtime drummer in Richmond Fontaine, was retained in The Delines, adding continuity, and, interestingly, Freddy Trujillo, bass player with The Delines, also carried out the bass duties on the last Richmond Fontaine album.
Amy Boone and her sister Deborah Kelly had formed The Damnations in the mid-90s, later called The Damnations TX, a band noted for their raw “bar band” sound and the tight harmonies of the sisters. They released two albums, Half Mad Moon in 1998 and Where It Lands in 2002. In 2003, Deborah Kelly provided the female vocals for Post to Wire, a duet sung with Vlautin from the album of the same name, and Polaroid, also from that album. Post to Wire, their 4th album, became arguably Richmond Fontaine’s breakthrough album, with well-crafted and detailed story songs, and set a template for much of their career.
Fast forward to 2011, and Richmond Fontaine release their 9th album, The High Country. The album was a dark, noirish concept album with a violent but emotional story set in logging country, a subtle step away from his usual storylines. For the character of “The Girl”, the central role in the story, Vlautin again called upon Deborah Kelly to sing. For me, the album is a triumph, different from their others but with a coherence and balance to the long-form concept that is unusual and reflects back to Vlautin’s other day job as a well-regarded author who had published 3 novels by this date.
Clearly, the band, Vlautin, Oldham, Dave Harding on bass and Dan Eccles on lead guitar, came across to London as part of their promotion for the album, and this video documents a showcase at Rough Trade East as part of what appears to be a three-date tour of the UK. Instead of Deborah Kelly, presumably unavailable, the band have Amy Boone, singing and playing keyboards. Whilst there are a number of tracks available on YouTube from this gig, I have chosen Post to Wire for this article as this is one of their better-known songs and gives Boone and Vlautin an equal part in the duet. The band is tight; Dan Eccles, particularly, is putting down some fine electric guitar, whilst Vlautin plays rhythm on the acoustic. Amy looks incongruous sat behind the keyboards rather than stood, particularly as she is not playing on this song, but delivers a fine vocal performance, clearly presaging what was to come in The Delines.
If you find all three songs available on YouTube with Boone sitting in, Post to Wire, Polaroid and I Can See a Room, you can already see an endearing interplay between Boone and Vlautin, which is very much how they are today. Particularly on I Can See a Room, where Vlautin fluffs his guitar picking, blaming sweat on the strings, as it is the first time they have played it, and he is clearly nervous. Boone, having started the song solo on piano and vocal, winces in sympathy when Vlautin comes in and defuses his dismay with a smile at the end. If you are a fan of the Delines or Richmond Fontaine, check out this video as well, and perhaps hunt the others down; it is a joy and quite emotional to see the beginning of something special.
