The tune “Too Cold” rocked hard early on and really got the crowd’s attention at the Duck.  Leaning heavily on their self titled LP they did “Horses”, “Easy”, and “Chug Chuggin'” which really displayed the smoky vocals of Farris.  Bringing up the bottom with powerful bass thumps was Michael Talley and dependable drum backing by Nate Wedan.  The “jangly” guitar sounds of Ponder were kick ass throughout and the in-your-face approach with little blabber was refreshing to say the least. The first cover they did was a standout “Midnight Rider” which smoked.

After the break Amber stated that they were going to “pick it up a bit” and she was not kidding.  Her achy soulful voice was awesome on “Lonely” and “Pretty Faces” and the band definitely got more animated in the second set.  They said it was due to drinking which was a classic.

As they continued to build on the jammin’ side I thought they were a combo of “The Georgia Satellites meet Lita Ford” at times, which was totally bad ass. “Wind Gone Dry” just shook the house and the band just seemed to be having fun while scorching the crowd. This lead to an encore befitting Farris’s throaty vocals on Joplin’s gem, “Me and Bobby McGee”, which of course was outstanding.

This band has been described as “gospel with grain alcohol” and I think that is appropriate. Whatever it is, it played very well to a too small crowd this night in Houston.  Try and catch these guys soon at the Corner Pub in Conroe on 10/23/10.  You’ll be glad you did.  CYA later alligator!