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(NODEPRESSION.NET) -- A friend ventured to suggest, as the Maldives began their set to a surprisingly packed house at the Tractor Tavern (and this even on a night when the Drive-By Truckers were playing across town), that the young Seattle ensemble may be the heir-apparent to the rambling backwoods aura of The Band. That's a tough call, seeing as how just a couple days earlier, this same venue had hosted the Gourds, who seem even more obviously in line to carry that particular torch.

Regardless, the Maldives proved themselves to be arguably the most promising roots act to emerge from the Northwest since the mid-'90s heyday of the Picketts, headlining a night of young and hungry up-and-comers from throughout the broader northwestern landscape. All three bands -- the other two being the Band Of Annuals (from Salt Lake City) and Or, The Whale (from San Francisco) -- included a pedal steel guitarist in their lineup, though none of the acts really used the instrument in its straightforward honky-tonk element. There was country in all three bands, but none of them were specifically country.

Or, The Whale (who might be wise to rethink the punctuation in their name, or perhaps the name altogether) kicked things off, causing slight confusion since they had been listed as the middle act. Every member of its extended lineup -- the other common ground between all three bands on the bill was that each reached well beyond typical trio or quartet size -- performed with enthusiasm throughout, and the band displayed an attractive variety of material, owing largely to the lead-vocal trade-offs between acoustic guitarist Alex Robins, singer Lindsay Garfield, and keyboardist Julie Ann Thomasson. A forgivable down side is the surface-scratching nature of the band's lyrics; rarely did anything move past the obvious or cliche, though most of the time the music, and the players' energetic delivery, made the experience enjoyable nonetheless.

Band Of Annuals raised the bar immediately with its first song, "Blood On My Shirt". Front-and-center here is the male-female vocal interplay between frontman Jay Henderson and keyboardist Jeremi Hanson. Henderson sounds rather like Gerald Collier or Rocky Votolato (who you may well not know if you're not from Seattle, but just trust me that it's a good sound); the closest touchstone for Hanson is Karen Peris of the Innocence Mission. Together they come across a bit like the best of Mojave 3's work, with first-class backing from four quite congenial lads (electric guitarist Jamie Timm, bassist Trever Hadley, drummer Jordan Badger, and pedal steel guitarist Brent Dreiling) who appear to be in a bit of a beard-growing contest. (The lead guitarist seems struggling to keep pace, while the pedal steel player is comfortably in the lead, which seems as it should be.)

The band offered up an infectiously bluesy take on Dylan's "Leopard Skin Pill Box" hat just before closing their set with the anthemic "Don't Let Me Die" from their recent debut disc Let Me Live. Members of Or, The Whale joined them onstage for the finale, the two bands apparently having bonded the night before on a bill together in Portland. Band Of Annuals members Hadley and Timm leaned with their backs against each other at one point as Henderson and Hanson lifted yet another song to a triumphant melodic high; they were soaking in the glory of the moment, as well they should. A Saturday night, hundreds of miles from home, a packed audience, in the prime of life: If you play music, this is as good as it ever gets.

-- PETER BLACKSTOCK
Copyright c. 2008 by No Depression Inc. and/or Peter Blackstock.