On the night of January 26, 2018, Tigerlake, The Brazen Youth and Bradford Evans performed at Growlers in Midtown, Memphis. Starting off the night was Tigerlake, comprised of mainly individuals in high school. However, the bands gritty sound, think Twin Peaks mixed with The Districts, would have you believe them to be much older. The Brazen Youth brought a relaxed lo-fi sound to the stage which both complemented and contrasted with that of the previous performance by Tigerlake. Prior to performing in Memphis, The Brazen Youth had performed in numerous cities with historically rich music scenes such as Brooklyn, Portland and Nashville. Finally, Bradford Evans took the stage with Ladd Caballero, Cullen Williams, Jay Clinton, Richard Sherrell and Ian Lloyd—forming a Flying V's/ V Slick reunion. The Flying V’s is a band formed while these men were students at Rhodes College, and with the addition of Richard Sherrell, they evolved into V-Slick. Sherrell and Evans were both Curb Fellows during their time at Rhodes College. With Evans singing and the occasional ballad from Sherrell the group produced a dreamy synoptic sound. Together, the collection of artists played some well known songs of The Flying V's while also performing some of Evans’s originals such as “Whisper Not” and a soulful cover of Bill Withers’s timeless classic “Ain't No Sunshine.” Though Evans is now performing as a solo act, the group as well as the audience’s excitement over this reunion was palpable.
Text by Savannah Seagal