Poundcake at City Winery

Teddy Thompson

Poundcake is a country roots cover band that was born in 2012 when drummer/vocalist Ethan Eubanks encouraged vocalist/guitarist Teddy Thompson to develop a side project between Thompson's solo albums. Bassist/vocalist Jeff Hill was recruited because the three musicians had just spent nearly a year together touring on one of Thompson's albums. The concept was that the trio would perform the music of the musicians they loved, primarily country and rock and roll artists of the early 1960s. Poundcake would play well-known songs but also seek out obscure gems from the Sun Studios era.

Teddy Thompson is a British folk rocker with a heart for Americana. As primarily vocalist and leader of Poundcake, he led the trio through songs by George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, Del Shannon and many others, keeping the old time sound without the commercial gloss. While the familiar songs were performed well and the deep cuts introduced old songs to new audiences, in the end, as with nearly all cover bands, the original versions were better. In short time, the show turned from concert to cabaret, as the three musicians engaged in light-hearted banter between every song, much of it poking fun at each other, to the point where this joking became as much the show as the music. This combination effortlessly could pilot an ongoing drive-time radio show.