Border Bash: Paleface and Samantha Crain in Downtown Bristol July 17

Travel 15 hours in a Buick on a weekday to play music in Cincinnati. That’s what Paleface and his drummer Monica “Mo” Samalot did on Tuesday.
“You just grin and bear it,” Paleface said by phone, five hours into their drive.
Then it’s on to Bristol on July 17 for this month’s installment of Border Bash. Newcomer Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers join Paleface on the impressive bill as two razor-edged acts that defy tidy categorization.
Take Paleface. A 20-year or so music veteran, the New Yorker has drifted from rock to rap to punk to folk during that time. Now he’s often termed an anti-folk or indie folk-core artist.
“It’s independent music,” Paleface said after a pause. “Instead of electric guitars we use an acoustic guitar. Anti-folk is like writing to express yourself.”
Anti-folk to describe Paleface, call it a classification when no other classifications fit.
Then there’s Paleface’s 22-year-old Ramseur Records label mate Samantha Crain. Her first full album, “Songs in the Night,” hit stores in April.
“What is a record? It’s a record in time, and it doesn’t have to be a perfect thing,” Crain said by phone on Tuesday from her home in North Carolina. “We tried to make it something that’s real and not some manufactured thing.”
Reviews of her album range from favorable to failing. Some of the sharper arrows drew aim in Crain’s unquestionably distinct voice.
“The biggest thing I’m trying to learn right now is to take criticism with a grain of salt,” Crain said. “If you read every review that’s written, you can get really hard on yourself or think too highly of yourself.”
Perseverance. That applies to Crain up to now, and it most certainly describes the plight of Paleface. Scathing reviews were the least of his problems during the first decade of his nuanced career.
Several major label deals, with Polydor Records in 1991 and then Sire Records in 1995, offered Paleface opportunities for national success. His buddies Beck and Daniel Johnston, each of whose songwriting was influenced by Paleface, made it.
“I just didn’t take advantage of the opportunities,” Paleface said. “Plus, I had my own substance problems. I was pretty far gone by (1995, when signed to Sire). It drove them crazy. I literally couldn’t deliver and it drove them crazy.”
Too much alcohol led Paleface into a downward spiral. Then he nearly died in 1997.
“I hit the wall. I had alcoholic hepatitis,” he said. “My liver was shot. But I put it all behind me and I am so over that. It’s gone.”
Now he’s returning to Bristol. He performed during last year’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion, and is booked to return again this year.
“We had a great time, and made a lot of friends in Bristol,” Paleface said. “This is our first Border Bash, so we’re looking forward to it.”

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com

IF YOU GOn What: Border Bash Concert Series
Who: Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers and Paleface
When: July 17, children’s activities at 6 p.m. and concert at 7 p.m.
Where: State Street, Downtown Bristol
Admission: Free
Info: (276) 645-0111 or (423) 573-2200n Web: www.palefaceonline.com
Also: www.myspace.com/samanthacrain
Crain Audio: www.ramseurrecords.net/artistview/samantha/ n Crain Video: www.vimeo.com/channels/ramseurrecords

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MUSIC REVIEW: Paleface, “The Show Is On the Road” (Ramseur)

Billed as the “original anti-folk hero,” singer Paleface rambles on record through a world of losers and lovers.
On his latest set, ignited by the title track “The Show Is on the Road,” the singer swaggers through a set of acoustic leanings, geared for easy sing-a-longs.
This isn’t complicated stuff.
Paleface – known for 1990s college radio hits like “There’s Something About a Truck” – sounds plaintive when singing about the sky in “New York, New York” and especially poignant with his thoughts of “Traveling From North Carolina.”
Among the best tracks is the percussion-heavy “Holy Holy,” which boasts a groove that will have you dancing hardly a minute from the start.
What a great comeback.
-- Joe Tennis, Bristol Herald Courier

-- Paleface performs in Bristol, State Street, on July 17 at Border Bash, starting after 6 p.m.