Langhorne Slim paid Austin, Texas, a visit on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, and it was more than worth it to stay out so late on a weeknight… despite the severe case of zombieitis I felt at work all day on Wednesday.

Stubb’s may be known mostly for its large (too large for my tastes) outdoor stage and its undeniably tasty BBQ, but its small (OK, tiny) indoor stage is an amazing venue for great live music, as proven on Tuesday night when Langhorne Slim & The Law hit town.

Austin locals Beau Jennings and Abby Mott opened the show with a subtle acoustic set highlighted by Mott’s soft, sweet voice and Jennings’ combined knack for writing clever lyrics and finding ways to engage with the audience. None of the songs seemed to have defined endings and Jennings seemed a bit shy, creating a sense of awkwardness that I actually found endearing, but all of this can be overcome with a bit more experience.

Rayland Baxter, a singer/songwriter from Nashville who has been on the road with Langhorne Slim for awhile now, took the stage next. Baxter’s performance was about as electrifying as a semi-acoustic set can be, and he had the bulk of the crowd in the palm of his hand from the start. Alternating between an acoustic and a hollow-body electric guitar, with just a porchboard for percussion, and accompanied by his partner in crime – a chanteuse named Odessa Rose, whose gorgeous vocals and haunting fiddle-work added the perfect amount of color to his songs – Baxter dazzled the audience with a selection of original material that could (and should) set him up as one of the next great American songwriters. He sang a song about losing his mother which absolutely broke my heart, and he elevates the art of writing songs about life, love, and loss (what else is there?) to dizzying heights of emotion without ever crossing into the sap-laden territory for which his hometown has become synonymous over the past 20 years or so.

Langhorne Slim & The Law exploded onto the stage with ‘Rebel Side Of Heaven’ and never let the energy level drop for their entire 90-minute set. While Langhorne himself is clearly the star of the show – dancing and jumping and spinning like the Tasmanian Devil the entire time, never losing his breath or his complete control over the rapt audience – significant credit is owed to The Law: David Moore’s keys are the secret spice in much of the material, and his slap-attack style of banjo playing has to be seen and heard to be believed; Jeff Ratner’s ability to switch between stand-up and electric bass during the 2-seconds-or-less intervals afforded to him between songs is as impressive as the thick, booty-shakin’ grooves he lays down; and Malachi DeLorenzo’s drumming – on a kit so minimalistic that half the time it can’t even be seen through the blur of Langhorne’s frenetic movement – calls to mind drum-gods like Buddy Rich and Max Roach. The crowd remained fired-up, and rightly so, for the entire show, which included a few stellar new tracks that will appear on Langhorne Slim’s upcoming album due on May 22^nd. The voice, the songs, the groove, the energy – everything was in place, and then some. I’m not much for genrefication, but if I had to try to slide Langhorne Slim into a genre I suppose I’d call it punk Americana, based on the energy and emotion of the performance, and the fact that the songs (such amazing songs!) are every bit as passionate and perfect as those of Paul Westerberg and John Doe, two songwriters to whom I have ultimate respect and also might consider under the same musical umbrella. For me, this performance ups the ante in terms of what I will be expecting from other touring acts visiting Austin in 2012.

Lastly, I have to give major props to my friend Angela – who pursuaded me to go out on a school night for this show – for inviting me in the first place, for sharing the photo I’ll be posting to accompany this review, and for considering me to be an excellent chaperone for the event (thank you!). Now we’ve just got to get Langhorne Slim and the boys to come back to Austin so we can do this again!