Frames and the Mother Mary

Frames and the Mother Mary live at Harmony Cafe in Green Bay, WI

By TJ
October 30, 2009
I was a little apprehensive about what to expect when catching a show down at the Harmony cafe, which is attached the Goodwill on West Mason St. My curious mind with all of these visionary, imaginative obscurities was put to ease the second I walked through the door and realized hey, I'm in a cafe with a live music set and dramatic lighting to my right, the coffee bar on the right, quite a few internet stations, and mellow furniture to lounge on. There were a few local artists on before Green Bay's very own "Frames and the Mother Mary" so I used the time to familiarize myself with my surroundings, now first thing is first. I Need Coffee! Anytime I'm at a new cafe I try the house or du Jour coffee straight up, no sugar no cream. If it is really good then you know you can penny down $4 for a real cafe Mocha and wire yourself off into caffeine oblivion. The coffee was great and this place feels like an oversized star bucks only better. I sat down and settled into a nice conversation with Green Bay musician and Midwestern Charm front-man Connor Sands about some recent record releases and music in general, then he made his way for a spot up front with some friends to catch Frames and the Mother Mary up-close. I hung back and observed.

Palmer was mostly wielding his black, road rashed, stickered to the earth's end Fender Telecaster tonight. It has a nice jangly tone that sits well with Palmer's wavering vocals. In fact the first time I heard Palmer back in July, I thought his vocal style was instantly unforgettable. It's not a perfect or beautiful sound, but it is, in the sense that he is emotionally connected and committed when he sings. Alex, playing mostly on lap steel tonight, adds some of the droning folk country tones to lie beneath Palmer's rhythm guitar. Alex also gave a hand in singing back up and adding acoustic guitar and harmonica. Shane carries a fairly straight forward back beat on the drum kit, and his snare tone adds that perfect snap to Palmer's telecaster. Erin Kay Van Pay sat in on a couple of songs with her beautiful accordion. The songs the Frames and the Mother Mary create are as exocentric as they are creative and what really ties them in this folk rock genre is the instruments they use, the quilting patterns of folk and rhythms and structure, and Palmer's ability to grab a hold of you as a songwriter. By no means does the Frames and the Mother Mary have a polished or overly practiced sound, in fact they are rough around the edges and band mate shenanigans do find their way on stage. I guess that's part of why I like them, they are young, extremely talented and are being driven by this natural force to define themselves as artists. The Frames and the Mother Mary are a must see to believe. Check out a video clip from the show, and keep your eyes and ears glued to this band because the best is yet to be seen of this amazing new band. Catch their next show at Green Bay's Harmony Cafe on November 7th at 7:30.

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