The David Mayfield Parade rolled into town on Friday night, taking the stage at Smith’s Olde Bar in midtown Atlanta. Mayfield is touring in support of his recent 2013 release Good Man Down. The Parade has taken on a new lineup. This current rendition includes Jason Edwards on drums, Evan Parker on Bass, Jennifer Starsinic on fiddle and Rebekah Jean on keyboard and vocals. The band are all Ohio & Pennsylvania natives, Mayfield is from Kent, Ohio. Smith’s is a unique venue, the main venue is upstairs with a bar and pool hall downstairs. The 300 capacity venue is intimate and perfect for up and coming artists.
“Love Will Only Break Your Heart”, a tender crowd pleaser and first track off his latest LP, had the audience singing along. On the album the background vocals are sung by Seth Avett, but keyboardist / vocalist Rebekah Jean did an excellent job bringing to the stage. The new bassline intro to the fun and catchy rendition of “Trapped Under The Ice” is a nice take on the original version of this song. The song takes you back to days when Mayfield was with a bluegrass band called Cadillac Sky and wrote this song. Passing the microphone to the audience to sing the lines “I am a monkey in a cage”, Mayfield encouraged participation by shouting out to someone who wasn’t singing and then called out, “You’re my boy blue,” a great moment indeed and tribute to the late-great Joseph “Blue” Pulaski. Off his first LP, there was “Breath of Love” and the cover “Sea of Heartbreak,” both great sing-alongs that worked the crowd into a participatory mood. The show ended appropriately with the touching “Goodbye Farewell So Long” off of Good Man Down. The band uses no set-list, letting the energy and feeling determine what comes next.
Mayfield is something unusual, part stage show, part comedian, and talented musician. His dry humor bundled with his onstage antics make him a fitting front man. Seeing Mayfield live is a totally different entertainment experience than listening to the album. I first saw him in Las Vegas opening for the Avett Brothers. If you haven’t checked them out, hit up the parade when they roll into your town you won’t regret it!
