About a week and a half ago I got my first live experience of alt/roots rock and alt country at Slim’s as Austin Collins & The Rainbirds (above) and Patty Hurst Shifter (below) took the stage to play some deep, rustic, and hard rockin’ grooves.

I had read about Patty Hurst Shifter and Austin Collins a few days before the show in the Independent, but didn’t know much else beyond that. Although I didn’t know what to expect, I experienced a very intense and memorable couple of hours. It began with a gradual and steady buildup with Collins’ set and led out with intense rock and roll fury with the final closing and subsequent solo guitar sets by Patty Hurst Shifter.

This was Austin Collins’ first show in North Carolina. He and the band put out some slightly dark, very emotional, and slow rolling jams with titles such as “Today”, “Bridge Street Lullaby”, and “House Without Windows”. He met the guys from Patty Hurst Shifter at South By Southwest in Austin, which coincidentally also happens to be where the Austin hails from.

He is coming off of the Europe release of the album “Roses are Black” (out on the same label as PHS) and was in Raleigh as part of his tour to promote it. You can hear some of the tracks and learn more information over at the Austin Collins & The Rainbirds MySpace page.

(above image courtest of r3photo)

Recording since 2002, Patty Hurst Shifter has put out two full length albums and four EPs. This quartet lead by J. Chris Smith created one of the most exciting and entertaining shows that I’ve been to downtown.  If you enjoy the likes of The Replacements, the Rolling Stones, or Big Star you will love this (local) “Rock like Hell” band.

With a mix of melancholy lyrics like “Life is mostly waiting”, and “I love it when you lie” and upbeat tunes, namely “Happy” and “Shine” to sing along with, PHS has covers a broad spectrum of feelings and states of being.

The recent live show paid tribute to the likes of Neil Young with their interpretation of “Mr. Soul” and The Beatles’ “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. For more information, check out the Patty Hurst Shifter MySpace page.