The Milk Carton Kids, a Grammy-nominated indie folk duo comprised of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, sang and strummed their way into Knoxville’s heart on Sept. 15 at The Bijou Theater.
Opening the show was The Contenders, the gritty folk duo of Josh Day on drums and Jay Nash on guitar and lead vocals.
“Meet the Contenders,” the band’s first album, starts out with track “The Contender.” Nash and Day followed suit with their performance, joking about the confusion that might result from so much repetition of the word “contender” in their work.
The song kicked off the show well and created a great energy with Nash’s soulful voice taking on a bit of a country twang. Another highlight from the pair was “Lincoln, 1958.” This atmospheric ballad filled The Bijou with its quieter percussion and a slower tempo.
According to Nash, “We went to great lengths to make our album sound like it was recorded in 1972.” The vintage image they’re trying to create definitely emanated from the stage throughout their act.
Regardless of whatever it is that Nash and Day are contending for exactly, they were a pleasure to hear live and complimented The Milk Carton Kid’s subsequent set wonderfully.
The Milk Carton Kids were met with warm reception from the crowd as this was their second time playing the Bijou, and many in the audience seemed to know their music well.
“The City of Our Lady” from new album “Monterey” began the set, a catchy song that immediately made it clear how talented both artists are on guitar.
The duo’s voices harmonized perfectly as they played a mix of both new and old tracks.
In one older song, “Heaven” from 2013 album “The Ash & Clay,” The Milk Carton Kids crooned, “Go ahead stomp your feet on the floorboards / Clap your hands if that’s really what you came here for.”
The crowd enthusiastically obliged with foot-stomping and hand-clapping but somehow managed to get remarkably off beat —“Don’t really do it,” Ryan said.
Half the fun of the show was the witty banter between Pattengale and Ryan and their engagement with the audience in between songs; they had the Bijou roaring with laughter on numerous occasions.
“Charlie” was a beautiful song Pattengale wrote about his future daughter, but when introducing it, Ryan admitted that they’ve been playing the song for four and a half years.
“Kenneth’s daughter has been assigned a name, and has a song written about her, but Charlie does not yet have a specific due date … or a mother,” Ryan said.
Pattengale strummed some really impressive solos throughout the show, and Ryan claimed jealousy of his counterpart’s playing —“but at least I make my own people,” he said, launching into the story of his son’s birth.
A personal favorite from the show was “Honey, Honey,” in which Pattengale and Ryan sing, “Honey won’t you please sing another song?”
The Milk Carton Kids certainly left the audience begging for just one more song. The show was an incredibly fun one, and the music fully lived up to its description of ‘gorgeous contemporary folk.’
The Milk Carton Kids performed at the Bijou on September 17, 2015.
