Local band opening for The Black Crowes at Nokia Saturday

As you might have seen or heard, the southern rock band The Black Crowes are playing at Club Nokia downtown on Saturday night at 8pm. What you may not know is who is playing before them.

Truth & Salvage Co. has been opening for the Crowes for the majority of their tour, which has stretched out throughout the summer and Fall. T&S Co. has been playing clubs - in various incarnations - in Los Angeles for years now and has finally gotten their big break - signing with the label of Chris Robinson, lead singer of the Crowes and opening for his band.

Like the Crowes, Truth and Salvage play a style of music generally called 'Americana,' which in essence is a blend of bluegrass, rock, southern rock and a touch of country. They also look the part, with most of the guys wearing beards and jeans and sometimes Southern-style hats.

The band consists of six players, four of whom are singer-songwriters who write and/or sing lead on specific songs. The six include Scott Kinnebrew (guitar and vocals), Tim Jones (guitar and vocals), William 'Smitty' Smith (drums and vocals), Walker Young (keyboards and vocals), Adam Grace (keyboards) and Joe Edel (bass) and they got their starts as parts of larger groups in Los Angeles, even though most of them are from other parts of the country. (Three are from North Carolina, one Mississippi and one is from Indianapolis/Kentucky). On any given song, you can hear Kinnebrew, Jones, Young or Smitty (from behind the drums) singing lead for the entire song and several of the other three singing harmonies, many times in three parts to accompany the lead singer.

Much of their dues-paying time came with playing at The Hotel Cafe and Crane's (both in Hollywood), among other places, as the larger group or as solo acts. Jones led a mega-sized group called "The Denim Family Band" that had several of the current members of T&S Co. including Young, Grace, Kinnebrew and Smitty, as well as another singer-songwriter, George Stanford, who played bass in the group, but split off and made his own solo album.

After each of the members played and met each other at The Hotel Cafe, they thought it would a good mix if all of them joined forces and they formed another group. Their manager, who also manages The Black Crowes, introduced the two bands when he realized it might be a good fit.

Prior to going on tour, Truth and Salvage played to large crowds in and around Hollywood as well as in Iraq for the troops there. While on the Crowes tour, they have crisscrossed the country playing again to big crowds in large clubs and theaters, all of whom have taken a liking to the relatively unknown group.

According to Jones, the Crowes fans like them.

We've been getting a great response from them (the Crowes fans). One fan said 'I had never heard of you until I saw you and you're great.'"

During the trip, they also played with Levon Helm of The Band - a group to whom T&S Co. is frequently compared - as well as at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. After the Stone Pony show, the band came face to face with some guy named Bruce Springsteen, who watched the show.

Meeting eyes with Springsteen was one of the highlights of the tour, according to Jones, one of more animated members of the band. As was, at least for him, playing at the Grand Ole' Opry, in front of his Dad and grandfather, who gave him his first guitar as a young boy. After they played, Jones asked his elderly grandfather how the show was and one of his answers was 'It was loud.'

Jones said about the Grand Ole Opry show "I was really proud of the band on that night."

Playing in those venues and with the Black Crowes and Helm has been a experience of a lifetime, according to Jones.

"To listen to a band and go see a band that I like, every night, is more than a dream come true," said Jones.

After they play at Noka, the bands continue on their tour, playing in Las Vegas, Reno and then at the Fillmore in San Francisco for five nights - as well as a couple of nights on their own in the same city.

The whole tour end for them in early-December and then they'll do another short tour after Christmas, playing in San Diego at the Belly-Up on January 14th, The Troubadour in Hollywood on the 15th and perhaps in San Luis Obispo after. After that, they'll finish up mixing their album and release in it in April.

You can still get tickets for the Nokia show, but if you miss them there, check them out at the Troubadour. They're great fun to watch and make fantastic music. You'll like these guys as soon as you hear one song, whether it be "Call Back" or "Hail, Hail, Hail".

In the meantime, you can hear their music in a variety of places. They have an EP on iTunes here that you can buy, as well as a myspace page and on facebook and on their own website here.

Their full-length album comes out in April.