Neil Cribbs and Melodime open for The Well Reds at Vinyl

Review and photos by Danielle Boise

Atlanta singer-songwriter, Neil Cribbs, along with the D.C. trio, Melodime, opened for the Atlanta rock band The Well Reds on Thursday June 21 at Vinyl in Atlanta.

Cribbs started the show off with his unique blend of music that is truly hard to classify because it draws from so many influences. A folksy base to rock with a blend of swing added in for good measure, enhance the already rich sound. Cribbs performed songs off his new EP, To The Left, which is due out on July 11th, like “Old Time Story,” “High Road,” and “The Middle.”

All of Cribbs songs are all over the place. Musically, his style is vast, which allows him not to be boxed in by one sound. Cribbs is able to explore what interests him; his music to me is a throwback to the likes of The Beatle – where every song was different, evoking so much more from the listeners, instead of the same baseline with different words jamming up one record.

For more information on Neil Cribbs or to see where he will be playing next, visit www.neilcribbs.com.

The D.C. trio, Melodime took the stage next, and played songs off their 2011 CD, 3 Reasons For Fighting, including “Our Time,” “Paper Wings,” “Hollywood,” “The Chase” and “The Letter,” “which is a farewell love song, written to a girl who got a lot of love songs” said lead singer Bradley Rhodes.

The band introduced the audience to new songs, like “Untamed,” “Poker Queen,” “Puppets” and “Lullaby.” Rhodes is prolific; he writes about 1-2 songs a day on the road. The band is about to go back into the studio to record three new albums to be released in the next 18 months, an ambitious project that I have no doubt about their handling with ease. This is a band you really must see live, they put so much heart and soul into each performance, blending alternative rock, soul and blues to their will as they tell thematically-driven songs from each of their albums.

For more information on Melodime or to see where they will be performing next, visit www.melodime.com.

“This is the last show of the summer, ‘cause we’ve written a bunch of news songs, so we’re going to try to get into the studio to record this fall,” said Jeremy Ezell, lead singer of The Well Reds.

Atlanta’s The Well Reds are an alternative rock band that happens to be driven by the force of pop, with sensible lyrics and reckoning harmonies. The Well Reds really put on a show, making it a tangible experience for the viewer to come out and be part of – for that is their point of performing live.

Ezell and the boys performed songs off their latest CD, Violet, including “6 More Months,” “Take It Back,” “Around You,” “All We Had,” “Rebel Lovers” and “Violet.” The Well Reds also performed new material like “Dying is a Romance,” “BPM” (which stands for Beats Per Minute), “Carousel” and “The End.” They also included did a cover of Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” in which they killed it.

For more information on The Well Reds or to see what they are up to next, visit. www.thewellreds.com.