Band learns to walk a common ground between rock, country

By Nick Hilbourn
Morning News
Published: May 9, 2008

Almost Famous is an absolutely perfect name for Sumter-based musician Bert Hall.
Two years ago, things were working well for him. He was in Nashville recording an album and on the verge of a deal with Capitol Records. Then came a devastating car wreck in January 2006 that left him in a coma.
“They didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Hall. “They helicoptered me into Columbia to the trauma unit.”
He survived and emerged from the coma, but there was a struggle ahead as he spent six months learning how to walk again. Still, from the moment he got back on his feet, music wasn’t far behind.
Hall said that it took him five months from the time he was able to walk, to get back into music. Now he’s on a mission to regain his footing in the music world and, hopefully, reclaim his recording contract.
On May 3 at Carolina Nightlife in Darlington, Hall and four other musicians played for the first time under the name Almost Famous, but it was more a reunion than an inaugural performance considering the group is almost entirely comprised of Hall’s former band, High Noon, which had played together for 12 years before his accident.
As Bert picks up the pieces and tries to put his music career back together, he’s joined by a wealth of friends: Robert Gibbs on guitar, Mike Mitchum on keys, Jack Bulsom on bass and Alan Thompson on drums.
Eclectic but country
Saturday night, the group kept mainly to modern country hits, but they occasionally veered into the worlds of classic rock and pop. The Rolling Stones, Grand Funk Railroad and Jimi Hendrix were played side-by-side with Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck. Regardless of the genre, the guys couldn’t shake their elemental sound — something that fluctuated between country rock and the blues. This meant that songs such as The Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” had the rockabilly feel that The Stones had aimed for but never could fully emulate. Almost Famous’ cover of “Some Kind Of Wonderful” by Grand Funk Railroad featured Mitchum blowing across the keys like a firestorm as Gibbs accentuated it with shuffling country rock riffs. One wonders if Grand Funk ever thought that people would be line dancing to one of its songs.
Things sped up a bit with Hank Williams’ “The Blues Man,” but it was nothing disrespectful. In fact, it was one of the most touching songs of the night, filling the floor with slow-dancing couples. They gave one more nod to country music roots later in the night, when they paid homage to outlaw music with a cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “Old Violin.” The Almost Famous version was louder than Paycheck’s classic, but it still sounded good.
The rest of the night was a mix of current jukebox hits. Lee Brice’s “She Ain’t Right,” Big & Rich’s “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy” and Jason Aldean’s “Why” were some of the most impressive ones. The night was also sprinkled by a few originals, all written by Hall. As a songwriter, Hall seems intensely personal. He is by no means heavy or depressing, but it’s safe to say that few of his songs are dust in the wind. His voice is somewhat lighter with a faint country bellow and twang, although it is much more akin to modern singers such as Brad Paisley and Keith Urban rather than, say, Johnny Cash.
Instrumentalists extraordinaire
Although he’s up front on vocals and guitar, Hall is not just a disconnected voice. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who can play every instrument in the band. Although he’s played guitar the longest of them all, it wasn’t his first “pick.” That was actually banjo. Asked if he had ever considered dipping his toes into bluegrass, Hall shook his head and said country was just fine with him.
But, reader, let’s not forget to mention the music behind him.
Gibbs is a dual personality when it comes to guitar: A Hank Jr. song finds him thundering through heavy columns of sound, while an Alan Jackson tune is pierced by the soft whine of his fingers across the strings. Mitchum sounds surrounded by a wall of keyboards, whether it’s a driving rock song or an emotional ballad, he fills the rooms with sound. Bulsom demonstrates undulating grace busoming out each song with a zen-like bass hum. Thompson demonstrates absolute showmanship and professionalism on the drums with an unparalleled flexibility that can shift from blues to country to swing music with amazing fluidity.
In fact, it might be a bit unfair to say Thompson is the only one with flexibility as every member seems on the verge of busting into an entirely new genre with the flick of a wrist.
“Country rock to classic rock to old R&B, we can play anything — except rap. I’ve tried it, but I can’t do it,” he said.
So, you might not be able to hear the latest Snoop song, but Almost Famous is certainly capable of satiating the country soul within all of us, whether it’s name is Merle or Garth.