Blitzen Trapper at Utopia Fest

Standing on the Utopia Fest stage, face buried behind his harmonica, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper reminded me of the old Bob Dylan vinyl covers that used to litter my father's den. His sound isn't all that different either. It was easy to listen and imagine that I had stepped back in time. Perhaps this is what Dylan always wished his voice had sounded like. Hailing from Portland, OR, Blitzen Trapper rocked the Utopia Fest stage with hints of folk, southern rock and all kinds of awesome.

Blitzen Trapper at Utopia Fest 2011

With cigarettes dangling from their lips, Earley was backed by well worked vocal harmonies and instrumentals. They have a great way of taking their album and ramping it up for a live, festival setting. The crowd loved them, I loved them, and my heart skipped a view beats every time that soulful harmonica wailed out.

Blitzen Trapper at Utopia Fest

Earley's lyrics are the heavy kind that stick to the bones. They are stories, meanings, lyrics that entwine themselves in you. Then again, when I talked with Erik Menteer after the show he said, "We all have a little redneck in us, just a little bit more, too." Perhaps that blend of old sounds reminiscent of the 60's, poetic lyrics, southern rock and a side of redneck is what makes their sound so successful. Whatever it is, Blitzen Trapper is sure to take it far.