Unless you’re from the icy nether-regions of Providence, RI you’ve probably never heard of Joe Fletcher and the Wrong Reasons. But thanks to parttime Johnson City resident and fulltime drinking partner Chris Owens, I got the chance to hear them on a Sunday night in April at the Acoustic Coffee House as their road trip detoured into Northeast Tennessee on its way south. The 4-piece was made up by front-man and songwriter Joe Fletcher, Damian Puerini, Scott Boutier, with the recent addition of Chris on mandolin and fiddle. The night featured songs off their 2010 record White Lighter along with some newer material worked in – and I was lucky to be there.
Plaid shirt wearin’, whiskey drinkin’, alt-country songs kept the beers flowing in my glass and in my mind. These tunes had road-trips listening to Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown in them with enough rock-a-billy riffs to make me think Social Distortion. The opening song, Say What you Will, set the tone for the night. As Fletcher sang “I’ve seen everything I’ve set out to see” I was already anticipating hearing about it. Ambulances and Flat Tire were drivin’ Dylan poetry songs complete with harmonica, regret and lonesome wit. They slowed the tempo and twanged it out in an ode to mistakes and where those mistakes can take us on The Drowsy Surgeon. My favorite song of the night was Drunk and Single. Fletcher introduced it in a dedication to George Jones. Upbeat and full of sweet irony for the self-aware man, I’m not sure it was suppose to be a funny song but it made me laugh.
It was good for me to see my friend even if it was only a short stop over for him. There was talk of the band being back in town this summer – and if so, you shouldn’t miss them. You can check out their music and schedule on Facebook. But the real highlight of the night was that our 3 month old daughter Phoebe, went with me and Hannah…so she’s been to her first show…maybe she’ll take me to one someday.
-cheers, alan
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