Written by Eddie Ferranti – January 10, 2020

When asked these days what is my favorite kind of music to cover I have an easy reply. Give me some classic rock.  Give me something with some meat on the bone.  Growing up in the 70’s I was reared on some of the best bands of all time. Today’s music scene in the Houston area does not have too many of these types plying their trade.  That is except one for me-Folk Family Revival.

Gracing the stage at the killer confines of the Dosey Doe, FFR was playing on their home turf of sorts. The old barn was packed with familiar faces who came out to sing every word to all the songs. Roark Smith, host of 90.1FM KPFT’s Wide Open Spaces, was there after he promoted the band on his popular show live on the air. HMR was treated so kindly from the start with a lift in a golf cart in the parking lot to the door. Shana “Banana” was the head cheese of the evening and she was happy to wait on us from the get go.  The lady lives in Sargent, Texas and makes the trek just because she loves music so much. It is easy to do at this venue which is an acoustic masterpiece with good site lines all around including balcony.

The holidays had just ended and I needed a good gig to bring me back into the scene. FFR was what the doctor ordered with their feel good jamming and refreshing vibe. Mason Lankford leads this tight squad as the lead vocalist like the Energizer Bunny, but he by no means is alone in this family.  Caleb “Dan Aykroyd” Pace is a non-stop shredding machine.  He can be spooky, fuzzy, psychedelic, and downright nasty all within one tune! Barrett Lankford holds down bass for the most part so well, but slaps on acoustic and electric guitars sharing lead vocal duties which adds a punch of wildness to the show.  Lincoln Lankford beats down the skins keeping the back beat strong. The band leaned on their latest album, “Electric Darlin”, with many well performed cuts.   Some of which were the title cut, “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road”, my fave “Here Comes the Night”, thought provoking “Not Like It Used To Be”, and Jimmy Pizzitola penned “Fresh Water”.  “Thumb In the Wind” was a shift the gears tender and touching ballad about being more like your father than your friends. They saved “Easy To Love” for a raucous blow out of an encore!

Wedged in between were stellar jammers “Sunshine”, “Fallin’”, and a spot on goose bump inducing cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown”! Made the crowd stand up and take notice.  Mason confirmed that the band is working on a tribute TP album which would be so sweet!  In closing, if you ever need to just let your hair down and scream HAIL YEAH this is the group for you! They closed the night with a surfer type jam that showcased how versatile this outfit is live on stage.  Try and catch them when you can, but make sure to put on your rocking shoes before you leave the adobe……….God bless LIVE music.