If Ben Nichols writes about you, you’re probably pretty OK. In “Tears Don’t Matter Much,” easily one of our favorite Lucero tunes, off “That Much Further West,” Nichols canonizes a few of his songwriting pals — Matt Bradley, Doug Deluca, and Cory Branan. The song poignantly captures the very nature of being a fan — and a man like Nichols, who wields a dangerously pithy pen, can’t help but succumb either. Witness:
Matt Bradley’s got the broken teeth
He wears a jean jacket with a bullet in the sleeve
He’s just another Southern boy who dreams of nights in NYC
And I sing along
I sing alongMy tears don’t matter much
They don’t matter muchDoug Deluca’s voice could break a heart
I recorded every song
I used up three whole tapes, and put ‘em in a box
To give away
To break a heartMy tears don’t matter much,
They don’t matter muchWhen the boys sing their songs
And the kids they sing along
I’m just another Southern boy who dreams of nights in NYC
And I sing along
I sing alongCory Branan’s got an evil streak
And a way with words that’ll bring you to your knees
Oh he can play the wildest shows and he can sing so sweetI still sing along
My tears don’t matter much,
They don’t matter muchWhen the boys sing their songs
And the kids they sing along…
I’m just another Southern boy who dreams of nights in NYC
And I sing along
I still sing along
We found Cory Branan thanks to a mutual friend, the same one who had turned us onto Lucero. He teeters with a certain sepia-toned nostalgia, doesn’t mind pop hooks and has an uncanny knack for dovetailing sublime couplets about rollerskating in the 7th grade, the one crazy girl who dances at shows, falling in love with the wrong girl and doing way too much cocaine. Err… we digress. Here are a few tracks from Branan’s first record, 2002’s “The Hell You Say,” which features some Lucero members backing on a handful of tracks.
Branan — along with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Justin Townes Earle, The Good Fear and Dan Montgomery — joins Lucero Saturday 9/13 at Riverside Park in Batesville, Arkansas for the Lucero Family Picnic. A bargain at $15; a hassle at 136 miles from Memphis. For and aft, Branan sets out on 40 days and 40 nights of hopefully not hard-candy snow. That’s from “Tame,” people — get with it.
Sep 4 Cactus Cafe w/ Greg Barkley of Oh No! Oh My! (All Ages) Austin, Texas
Sep 5 Club Next Texarkana, Arkansas
Sep 6 Blackthorn Joplin, Missouri
Sep 10 Parrish Baker Pub Oxford, Mississippi
Sep 11 12th & Porter (CB @ 10:15) / Next Big Nashville Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 12 Hi Tone (18+) Memphis, Tennessee
Sep 13 Lucero Family Picnic (CB @ 5:30)(All Ages) Batesville, Arkansas
Sep 18 Pour House Music Hall w/ Blue Mountain (CB-8:30) Raleigh, North Carolina
Sep 19 Evening Muse (All Ages) Charlotte, North Carolina
Sep 20 Pour House w/ Blue Mountain Charleston, South Carolina
Sep 22 New World Brewery Tampa, Florida
Sep 24 Big Daddy’s (18+) Tallahassee, Florida
Sep 25 Egan’s (Late Show / Post Avett’s) Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Sep 27 Barley’s Tap Room (18+) Knoxville, Tennessee
Oct 1 The Camel w/ Josh Small, The Fox Hunt (All Ages) Richmond, Virginia
Oct 2 Rapture (Free / 18+) Charlottesville, Virginia
Oct 3 Iota (CB to Open @ 9pm) Arlington / D.C., Virginia
Oct 4 Della Rose’s Canton (Free) Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 5 Laurrapin (5pm / Free / 18+) Havre de Grace, Maryland
Oct 8 Flat Street Brew Pub (18+) Brattleboro, Vermont
Oct 9 Jake’s w/ Quiet Life (18+) Providence, Rhode Island
Oct 10 Oasis Pub w/ Quiet Life New London, Connecticut
Oct 12 The Cake Shop w/ Quiet Life New York City, New York
Oct 16 Brothers Lounge w Magpies (18+) Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 17 Uncommon Ground @ Devon Chicago, Illinois
Oct 18 Rudyard Kipling w/ Dangerbird (18+) Louisville, Kentucky
Oct 19 Molly Malone’s (18+) Covington (Cincinnati), Kentucky
Oct 22 Jackpot Saloon (18+) Lawrence, Kansas
Oct 24 The OPO (18+) Fayetteville, Arkansas
Oct 25 Whitewater Tavern Little Rock, Arkansas
Nichols says Cory “can play the wildest shows” but unfortunately we’ve never — het hem — seen him with a full band. These are solo dates, but Cory holds his own there, too.
