"3rd of July" / The Jody Grind / Lefty's Deceiver

The Jody Grind was a local band from Athens that became popular in the late 80's / early 90's. They were really a showcase for the incredible talent of their lead singer, Kelly Hogan. Incidentally, Hogan put out a couple of solo records (also great) and eventually moved to Chicago. I found a pleasant surprise when I bought Neko Case's solo record last year and found Ms. Hogan contributing vocals on that record. Neko Case and Kelly Hogan singing together is an absolute embarrassment of riches for any CD. Here's a bonus for you - Case and Hogan performing "Star Witness", the best song off Neko Case's last CD. It's a crappy video done by a fan, but sure enough, that's Kelly Hogan there on stage left. (Damn, if you don't get chills when they harmonize on the chorus of this song @1:30ish, you suck at life.)

The Jody Grind was really my first foray into local music, I guess. As a senior in high school, I was aware that REM / B-52s / Pylon / Guadalcanal Diary were from my town (hell, if you grow up here, it's practically implanted into your DNA at some point), but never noticed much beyond that. One day, my buddy Jake and I went to an old club in downtown Athens called "The Downstairs" (where DT's Down Under is now) to see his guitar teacher play a set with his band (we went primarily because the Downstairs let in underage folks, actually).

Opening for his jazz group was The Jody Grind, in one of their first Athens performaces. When Kelly Hogan opened her mouth and filled up that small space, I had never heard anything like that in person. This song doesn't really do her justice. I became hooked after that and showed up to see them play whenever I could. The group specialized in barebones jazz, swing, period, country stuff, and seemed destined for big things.

Then, in 1993 (I might have the year wrong), their touring van had a wreck and killed the bassist and drummer. The Jody Grind was no more, but as mentioned earlier, at least Kelly Hogan carried on her career.

This song is from "Lefty's Deceiver", their second (and final) CD. As you can tell, it has that mellow shuffle / swing thing going, with the nice little fills from thier guitarist....ah, I can't remember his name. There are some nice images in here, one I ofen think about is at 1:25 (the start of the second verse) "Hand in hand we would have sat on the hood of my car / underneath the flash of flames, the rockets and the stars". That's good stuff, especially how she delivers it.

Speaking of delivery, you get a hint of her range when she goes to a higher key around 2:05 ("Needed you for all time"). I also like, as an English teacher, how the lyrics are in the future conditional ("We would have..."), 'cause if you didn't notice at the beginning, her man went back to his old lover. Sigh.

Check this song out and look up some Kelly Hogan solo stuff too. You won't be disappointed.
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