It was hot in The Cave Saturday night; with dozens of people packed into the front room to see both John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff and Magnolia Collective play, the room felt like a rainforest, albeit altered by the smell of beer and mixed drinks. In short, it was the perfect spot to see a country band on a Saturday night. There was even a little dancing.
Magnolia Collective’s story-oriented Americana-rock inspired a good bit of appreciative bounce in the front of the room. After a quick changeover, Howie and his band kicked off their Everything Except Goodbye LP release set, appropriately starting with album opener “The Man I Used to be.” The song—and much of the set—rode infectious country grooves. The band leaned into rock but always kept at least one worn leather boot in honky-tonk territory.
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Close to the end of the hour-ish set (there was also a two-song encore that included a scorching rendition of “Last Great Guitar Slinger,” from Rosewood Bluff’s debut LP), Howie insisted the animated crowd calm down for a second; it took a few tries, but he eventually got their attention and asked, quite seriously, for a round of applause for Brown. And then the band played “Blue,” a tribute to their lost member; Howie closed his eyes and spun poignant, dreamlike metaphors of being stuck at shore while his friend was washed out to sea before breaking into a cracked falsetto for the chorus of “I’m blue.” The guitarist and bassist closed their eyes and nodded during the tribute.