Reservations, the project of frontwoman Jana Horn, celebrated the release of its first EP at the Mohawk on Saturday night with a little help from friends Hello Caller and Grace Park and the Deer. Horn’s songs are bare folk songs built around her airy vocals and supplemented by a talented backing band.
The live incarnation of the band includes members Paul Price of Good Field as well as Jason Baczynksi, and Alán Uribe on guitar, drums and bass respectively. EP lead track “The Road We Travelled Down” emerged as a high point in the set with excellent slide work provided by Price. “We Both Know,” the EP’s closer, offered another strong showing as did a new song, “Alexis,” on which the band sounds more full and Baczynski opens up the drums as Horn’s vocal melody intertwines nicely with Price’s guitar notes. It’s exciting to see a young band developing great new material when they’ve barely released a new set of songs.
Notably, the evening was made enjoyable by seeing more experienced Austin musicians so actively supporting up-and-coming artists. Price behind Horn was one example of this, as well as Michael McLeod of Good Field who plays guitar in Grace Park’s band. McLeod also recently played bass in Dana Falconberry’s band for a show at Stubb’s. McLeod produced Grace Park’s most recent effort, working on the final product for two years.
I’ve only seen Grace Park perform once before, opening for Marmalakes, when she played a solo set in a song trade with Dana Falconberry. On Saturday night, with a full band, Park sounded better than ever, incorporating upbeat jazz elements to the night with standing bass. Another encouraging perk was seeing capable female artists fronting these bands. Both Horn and Park are talented young musicians generating solid work with their best still to come.
All photos © Bryan Parker and Pop Press International. Click any image to open in slideshow view.
