‘The Thrift Store Cowboys’ (TSC) returned to the Grind on the evening of September 29th for a nice, long set of country/progressive rock numbers. TSC picked, yodeled, and rocked out to a packed coffeehouse: every available chair occupied by a listener mesmerized by the band’s spooky country vocals, fiery fiddle, and ethereal rock jams.

The TSC show opened in the pitch dark to the sound of piercing coyote howls. Newcomers started in their chairs, but TSC long-timers promptly answered back with coyote calls of their own. Amanda Shires, a petite brunette clad in black and white cowboy boots and swingy dress, took to the stage with her trusty fiddle and one of the cowboys, Colt Miller, on guitar. She debuted material from her new solo album, ‘West Cross Timbers.’ Appearances are deceiving, because this small and dainty girl had a powerhouse at her core! Her vocals ranged from husky, ghostly whispers to Dolly Parton-esque ringing yodels and she managed a band of boys with snappy humor, vigor, and plenty of twang. She started the teasing, easy-going atmosphere of the TSC performance by shouting out the phone number of vocalist, Daniel Fluitt, and joking that, “he just got dumped and is lookin’ for love!” The audience immediately fell for Amanda and her cute mannerisms, like her yipping of, “Beautiful!“ or “Perfect!“ after each number. Her songs showcased her masterful skill at the fiddle and her talent as an evocative story-teller and performance artist. She sang and whispered a murder ballad, playing, of all instruments, the ukelele! It was a “true story,” for which she wished the audience members to enjoy with a strong drink in hand. Like all chilling tales it ended with the line, “Baby look what you made me do…”
The boys joined her a bit later with their drums, guitar, bass, Wurlitzer and accordian to round out her energetic twang with sounds of bluegrass and crashing rock. Amanda and Daniel harmonized before an enthralled audience while the band wove together stringed instruments and spacey Wurlitzer behind their rich voices. Daniel expressed his interest in writing historically-based songs. He sang a number titled “Nothing” about Buffalo Soldiers on the trail of Comanches in the middle-of-nowhere, west Texas. “Nothing” was a slower-paced number, dark and beautiful, but TSC also played song after song of rousing fiddle and pounding, driving rock. The contrast between loud songs and more thoughtful, drawling numbers with lyrics like “Six kids and ten acres on the prairie…can’t make a living but we’re free“ made the show really enjoyable.
The audience ate up any song TSC had to offer, even requesting certain numbers like “Understudy.” Amanda happily dug into “Understudy” after flattering the audience with, “I swear to god, you guys are beautiful. You should see what they look like in Virginia!” All good things must come to an end though, and after being cheered back on stage for two more numbers, the Thrift Store Cowboys finally put their instruments down and went out to mingle with a very, very satisfied audience.
-Sarah Thomas