The Kris Lager Band at the Raccoon Motel -- October 12.
Saturday, October 12, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
With Paste magazine raving that the ensemble's music delivers "the kind of toe-tapping rhythm that sometimes you just need to make it through a day," the touring artists of The Kris Lager Band headline an October 12 engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their Saturday-night set finding the musicians sharing the talents that led Bandwagon magazine to praise their “brilliant” sound “that few other modern-day bands can offer.”
Kris Lager was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, but the artist formed his band in Omaha in 2006, The following year, after routinely performing in Nebraska, they were invited by frontman and vocalist Mato Nanji to become the latest version of his band Indigenous. The musicians backed him for more than two years in consistent touring and performed on Indigenous' Vanguard Records 2008 release Broken Lands. When that venture reached its conclusion, the Kris Lager band continued as before self-releasing albums along the way. With Lager acting as the frontman, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the outfit, the Kris Lager Band performed at the Red Sky Music Festival in 2011, and are now known to perform around 200 shows every year.
In 2014, Heavy Soul & Boogie Trance was an all-analog and mostly live recording, and was produced by Kelly Finnigan and Ian McDonald of Monophonics. The album was recorded at Transistor Studios and mixed by Sergio Rios of Orgone. Tab Benoit, meanwhile, produced KLB's release Platte River Runaway at his home studio in Houma, Louisiana. Lager also worked and toured alongside Andy Frasco & the U.N., with that group recording three of Lager's songs on their 2014 album Half a Man. In early 2018, KLB issued another album, Love Songs & Life Lines. It was recorded at White Wall Studios in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was mixed by Jim Gaines, and led Blues on the Chippewa to stated that the collection was a "departure from their 'swaggering rock 'n' roll' and blues infused electric guitar grooves that make up a lot of their 2016 release Rise and Shine."
The line-up of the band has fluctuated over the years, but mainly consisted of Lager (vocals, guitar), Jeremiah Weir (keyboards and percussion), John Fairchild (percussion) and Brandon Miller (bass guitar). In 2021, Lager self-released his CD Blues Lover, while the 2022 album Presence marked a departure from the norm, with Lager writing and recording the entire album on his TASCAM 388 Studio tape machine. The collection featured 10 original songs by Lager plus his version of King Floyd's "I Really Love You."
The Kris Lager Band performs their headlining engagement in Davenport on October 12 with an additional set by Subatlantic, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $15.88, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
