One band seems enough for most musicians; not Chandler Travis who brings two to Troy in a two-day, two show visit at opposite ends of River Street.
On Friday, June 21, he leads his longtime Massachusetts coast rock gang the Invincible Casuals in a co-headline bill with Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers at the Hangar on the Hudson (675 River St.). Then on Saturday, the Buttercups, another Chandler Travis band, plays a free show outside the River Street Beat Shop (197 River St.).
Right, this takes some explaining.
Chandler Travis, performing at Caffe Lena in April 2017. Michael Hochanadel photo
If the band name Invincible Casuals sounds familiar but different, you’re correct. For decades, the Incredible Casuals made albums, toured and – most famously – played Sunday shows at the Beachcomber in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. A wry but rocking trio, they make a slyly smart suntanned escapist sound, a kind of New England post-grad Jimmy Buffett thing, but with better songs.
Things changed: founding guitarist Johnny Spampinato joined his bassist elder brother Joey in NRBQ when Big Al Anderson left in 2004. More recently, Travis revived the Casuals idea with original drummer Rikki Bates and Steve “Woo Woo” Wood (member of another Travis band, the Catbirds) in a new version dubbed the Invincible Casuals: Travis, bass; Bates, drums; Wood, guitar. Their first show was a memorial for Casuals guitarist Aaron Spade last September.
Friday’s show by the Invincible Casuals at the Hangar on the Hudson will be the first Casuals show in Troy for at least a decade, a twin-bill with rockabilly blaster Deke Dickerson and his band the Whippersnappers. Show time is 8 p.m., doors at 7:30. $20. 518-272-9740 https://www.thehangaronthehudson.com.
The next afternoon, Saturday at 2, Travis leads his new band the Buttercups in a free show outside (weather permitting) the River Street Beat Shop (197 River St.). Comprising Travis and Bates, the Buttercups, says Travis, is a “noisy duo…hellbent on showing exactly how much is possible with only two peoples…” Assisting in the noise is the remarkably, strangely entertaining Paulette Humanbeing in her only east-coast show this year. A California singer-songwriter as prolific and original as Travis himself, she is, Travis says, “funny, melodic, and peculiar, and she always keeps you on your toes and usually singing along.” 2 p.m. Free. 518-272-0433.
Hoke's Jukebox 