Trigger Hippy at the Chelsea Music Hall

Trigger Hippy started more as a loose collective in 2009 than as a defined membership in Nashville, Tennessee. Thanks to marquee names like vocalist Joan Osborne and guitarist Jackie Greene, the band headlined large clubs nationally in 2014. By 2015, however, all of the musicians were involved in individual projects and Trigger Hippy disappeared. Earlier this year, bassist Nick Govrik, formerly of Highwater, and drummer Steve Gorman, formerly of the Black Crowes, revived the Trigger Hippy brand with vocalist/saxophone player Amber Woodhouse of Luthi and guitarist/vocalist Ed Jurdi of Band of Heathens. Five years after its first album, Trigger Hippy released its second album, Full Circle and Then Some, on October 11, 2019.

Aided by guitarist Sol Philcox and keyboardist Jimmy Rowland at the Chelsea Music Hall tonight, the six-piece Trigger Hippy sounded like a band from another music era. The band's mix of Delta blues, southern rock, psychedelic jams, and rhythm and blues recalled the late 1960s music of the Band, Little Feat, Dr. John, and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Woodhouse's big vocals ignited some songs, multi-part harmonies enriched other songs, and swampy bayou grooves carried the remainder of the set. Trigger Hippy played as an ensemble, not as a support for a key member. The musicians knew when to step up and step back. In service to the songs themselves, no one was a star but everyone shined. Trigger Hippy performed refreshingly honest music.

Setlist:

1. Dandelion
2. Strung Out on the Pain
3. Dry County
4. The Door
5. Long Lost Friend
6. The Butcher's Daughter
7. Middle of the Road
8. Goddamn Hurricane
9. Born to be Blue
10. Heartache on the Line
11. Don't Wanna Bring You Down
12. Low Down Country Song

Encore:

1. Paving the Road
2. Full Circle and Then Some