When Particles Collide / Brightwire / Grifters & Shills

Devil and the Deep Brewery, 2425 Postoffice St., Galveston, TX

Local favorites BRIGHTWIRE, touring act WHEN PARTICLES COLLIDE, and GRIFTERS & SHILLS, together at DEVIL AND THE DEEP BREWERY.

When Particles Collide: We are a band because Rock ‘n Roll is about singing and playing the truth so that we can all be a little more human, so that we can better understand ourselves through the power of rhythm, melody and verse. WPC believes this art form makes us all feel empowered, inspired, connected and unstoppable. We are a touring band because live music bring people together in real time and in real spaces. Being at a live music event can bring us to tears, make us laugh, unleash the desire to dance and move, but most importantly we tap into our own vulnerability which is at the heart of being human.

We continue to press on and make this life not only for ourselves but for everyone who is discovering the hindrances and the excuses, the bad habits and negative voices and finds a way through to a joyfulness that only comes through hard work and the ecstasy of play. Perhaps “live fast and die young” was a marketing slogan used to sell records. Here at Unstoppable Rock Headquarters we abide by a different ethos. Keep living, keep making up the life you want to live, because it hasn’t been lived yet. That and don’t be a jerk.

Grifters & Shills: Amplifyin' and Testifyin' for Your Soul. His was hard rock and heavy metal. Hers was the classic sound of the East Texas piney woods. Theirs was a fiery collision, bearing forth a sound that was at once novel and instantly familiar--high lonesome harmonies with a rock and roll soul.

Behind Grifters & Shills is John and Rebecca Stoll, native Texans who met in a classic rock/blues jam band in 2008. Between them they discovered a magnetic chemistry that manifested not only in music, but in all aspects of their relationship. When they began playing as a two-piece band, they found a unique voice in the combination of Rebecca's East Texas vocal stylings and John's formidable guitar work. They immediately began writing their own songs, while testing the waters of vocal harmonies and adding an array of instrumentation to their arsenal. A typical show will feature a delightful range of electric instruments, including John's archtop guitar, Rebecca's bass, a homemade suitcase drum, a couple of cigar box guitars, a handful of harmonicas, and an occasional kazoo.

They call it high lonesome heavy metal, and together, this two-person, dozen-instrument act provides a show full of sound a fury, punctuated with raw, quiet vulnerability, forging new trails and shining new light on familiar ground.

Brightwire: Brightwire is an Americana band born from a household of musicians and hailing from southeast Texas. Combining elements of folk, rock, country, punk and whatever else they happen to get interested in, they weave tales of lives lived in our world today. For them, music is about inclusion and letting others know they are not alone in their struggles.

Samuel Barker (Vocals/Guitar) has come up through the Houston Americana/Alt Country scene with bands like The Wayward Sons, The Dragliners and his own solo endeavors. While Kimberly Barker (Vocals/Organ) spent her youth as a member of various choirs, honing her vocal chops.

After helping with the recording of Samuel’s solo album, These Lonesome Nights, Kimberly hit the road to help promote the release. A couple of years later, the duo was married and writing songs together. The product of these adventures is A Place to Call Home.

The album title comes not just from the band’s matrimonial endeavor, but also due to hometown musicians and, most importantly, friends who helped fill out the album. John Stoll (Grifters & Shills) added electric guitar work to Crystal Beach and In the Distance, Michael Helfenstein (The Grizzly Band) added dobro to the majority of the album and Nathan Taylor (Little Outfit) threw in some country licks on Burning It Down. Combining that with mixing/production help from all members of Little Outfit and Grifters & Shills, you get a real effort from the place Brightwire calls home.

With the recent addition of Michael Helfenstein (formerly of The Grizzly Band) as a full-time member, the songs receive the same treatment live that they received on album.