Automatic Slim inaugurates Carroll Creek Park amphitheater Alive@Five
Published on June 29, 2006
Photo by Bill Green
Automatic Slim and His Sensational Band played at the season's first Alive@5 at Carroll Creek Park amphitheater between Market and Carroll streets. The concerts are generally held the fourth Thursday of each month from June to September from 5 to 8 p.m., although the Blues Vultures will be the next act on July 13, to be followed by The Players Band on July 27.
By Dickson Mercer
News-Post Staff
Not long ago, it seems, I was listening to a blend of jackhammer and saxophone on the terrace of C. Burr Artz Library. It was an oddly warm day last fall. Carroll Creek Park, from birds-eye-view, appeared a long way from becoming a reality.
Most mornings as I walked to work I would look in through the fence from Court Street, or I would see the skeleton of a new building pop up as I passed through the alley connecting South Market and East Patrick streets. The changes were so subtle they barely registered — until they were just there.
There was an air of excitement surrounding the project, mixed with hesitation. There were mutterings of gentrification, the phrase, “like Georgetown,” expressed in both positive and negative tones. Regardless, I’ve been told repeatedly since I moved here one year ago that development along Carroll Creek will, put simply, “change everything.”
Last Thursday, this new era was here, and while the crowd gathered at Carroll Creek Park amphitheater may have signified a monumental day in the history of Frederick, the energy one might expect such a moment to produce was mostly absent: Despite the beauty of the new location, Alive at Five had just moved over a bit; there was fresh sod, clear brick pathways, bridges, new fountains, and not the least bit of shade.
Brick soaked up thick rays of sunlight. Humidity never eased up as the sun went down; instead it felt like it only firmed its grip. The prevalent adjective might be “swampy,” used to denote the weather and creek, even the sensibilities of Automatic Slim and His Sensational Band, a four-piece outfit that uncorked three peppy sets of root-driven blues and rock.
With a lineup originally forged at the Full Moon Saloon, Dave Carreon, better known known as “Automatic Slim,” has fronted this Baltimore-based band for almost almost 20 years. At the 8 by 10, Automatic Slim has opened up for the likes of Little Charlie and the Nightcaps, not to mention L G Love and Special Sauce. From 1993 to 1995, moreover, his ensemble backed phat blues extraordinaire Kelly Bell. In fact, they wer e were the original group Bell created for the express purpose of opening up for and backing Bo Diddley, who generally hits the r road with little more than his guitar and case.
Carreon grew up listening to Mexican music, but he was raised on the southside of Chicago, which instilled an affection for Chicago blues. He started out in roots and blues bands and has also participated in alternative and outlaw country arrangements.
The eclecticism pours out when he hits the stage: in New Orleans-charged “What Did I Do Wrong,” in straight-up rockabilly blues, “My Little Country Baby,” in a steamy Los Lobos number, or an appropriately moody, resonant, rendition of B.B. King’s “Thrill is Gone.”
One can hear the same diversity as well as some of Carreon’s acoustic and ragtime blues on his newest CD for the independent roots label, La Chica Records. Perhaps by sticking together for so many years, Automatic Slim and His Sensational Band have truly forged an impressive live gestalt, which allows guitarist Jim Harrell, bassist Jack DiPietro, and drummer Scott Stump, to follow Carreon’s intuitions without missing a step.
They look and sound best during long instrumentals, when the band escapes structure and strikes up transcendent and elastic grooves. The opposite situations remain pro but also wax nostalgic.
Interesting moments, for instance, come during the unexpected Johnny Cash encore, midsong, as Carreon lapses into a solo and the band slips off into new realms. Carreon appears lost in the moment. His Sensational Band fills the opposite corner of the stage, leaving the center wide open. DiPietro flavors the mix with humble yet perceptive bass, and for a brief moment, Cash dissipates entirely.
A little old-school rock as Frederick moves on into the future
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