The Yawpers started as a weekly acoustic folk duo at a bar in Boulder. Fifteen years of evolution later, the Denver band is still running no bass: just two heavily amplified acoustic guitars, a drum kit, and a catalog that Pitchfork called “an expansive vision of rock ‘n’ roll, one that cherrypicks from various folk traditions: punk, rockabilly, blues.” On Sunday, October 4, they play The Falcon in Marlboro — 150 seats, above the falls.
About the Show
This is a split bill, with upstate New York native Shane Guerrette opening. The Yawpers formed in 2011 (the name a lift from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass) and signed to Chicago’s Bloodshot Records after a 2015 SXSW showcase. Their catalog runs from American Man (2015, produced by Johnny Hickman of Cracker) to Boy in a Well (2017), a raucous concept album moving between introspective acoustic numbers and full-on rock, to Human Question (2019), tracked live in one room at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with producer Alex Hall. The range on Human Question alone is striking: blues-inflected rock, distorted grunge, modern Americana, and a gospel-soul closer described as building “from hushed to impassioned, with the lead singer begging for salvation in full open-throated fervor by song’s end.” Press coverage called the live show “brash, loud and in-your-face performance with plenty of power chords” — which tracks for a band whose influences span Hank Williams, Black Flag, and the MC5.
Guerrette is worth arriving for. The upstate NY native has been on the road since 2022 with what his team calls a road-worn blend of soul, roots rock, and blues. His debut, Here’s Hoping (2022), crossed 10 million streams; “Lost Without” has hit 6 million Spotify plays and landed on NBC/Hulu’s The Rookie and a Ford Motor Company spot. His current album, Come Along as One, is on Spotify editorial playlists for Modern Blues Rock and Indigo. He’s opened for The Wood Brothers, Black Joe Lewis, and Black Pistol Fire, and played Mountain Jam and Rhythm and Roots. He is not a throwaway opener.
Venue & Logistics
The Falcon is a live music venue and restaurant at 1348 Route 9W in Marlboro, perched above Marlboro Falls in the Hudson Valley. The room holds 150, which puts The Yawpers, a band that ran close to 200 tour dates a year at their peak, in a format you don’t often get. Dining starts at 5:30 p.m.; music at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was listed at time of publication. Buy tickets