Ramsay Midwood

Posted by Chris Campbell at Saturday, September 19, 2009

When considering the best live sets I've seen without knowing the band previously, nothing will touch Apollo Sunshine's set at South By Southwest 2006. After a 45 minute set, I walked out of the club in a deep sweat and was stumbling over my own feet. Clem Snide, who I like, was to follow Apollo, but I had experienced it all in that 45 minute set and just sat outside experiencing utter euphoria.

The next to come to mind would be Ramsay Midwood. Sometime around 2000, I walked into the Lakeside Lounge in New York and heard the opening to the track "Spinnin On the Rock." Instead of taking my usual seat at the bar, I stepped past the jukebox and into the small back room. Midwood sat alone, guitar in hand, and transported me to the Mississippi Delta or the swamps of somewhere. I sat for about an hour and listened to a style and authenticity that I can't remember seeing in some time. It was like listening to Junior Kimbrough but he looked like a messier Larry Brown. When the show ended, I picked up the wonderful Shoot Out at the OK Chinese Restaurant and listened for weeks. Midwood has done very little since, but that night, and this record, remain entrenched in my musical mind.