Rain or Shine, Hines Still Rocks

By Broadside Correspondent Marian McLaughlin

Despite the rain, local band Shane Hines and the Trance made their way to Damon’s Grill Saturday night to play an acoustic set of original songs as well as a few fun covers. Accompanied by bassist and “Trance” member Brian Thumbs, Hines shared his songwriting and performance skills for two hours at Live at Damon’s, which took place on the ground floor of the Student Union Building I.

During the sound check, I was a little worried that Hines and Thumbs would have to compete for volume and visuals against the loud chatter of the dining room and the distracting, wide screen TVs adjacent to the stage. But once Hines began to boom with passion in an opening song, repeating the line “No one can get in the way I am feeling,” everyone began to focus on Hines. Whether the song was about love, life, or any other matter, the line embodied “Team Trance” for who they were: musicians doing whatever they can to share their emotions through songs, playing essentially for themselves, yet hoping to reach out to touch the audience.

Their first song was met with a pleasant response, and they continued on into other rock-pop numbers, such as “Way Up,” which started with an arpeggiated introduction and a groovy bass line. Thumbs outlined the melody, and then picked up speed further into the song as Hines wailed his voice and stomped out the rhythm with his boots, sometimes creating a percussive kick during breaks of silence.

Putting a capo on the fourth fret of his guitar, Hines slowly moved into a soulful version of “Rocket Man” by Elton John. The descending bass line added to the swaying feel of the cover. Hines showed his voice’s ability and range as he hit incredibly high notes and finished the song with a falsetto ending.

As the show continued, some songs possessed a tame sound while others broke out into explosive energy. During one of the more fast-paced songs, Thumbs went off into an entertaining bass solo as Hines accompanied him with a steady rhythm pattern. They did a few more originals, and then ended the show with some more unique covers, such as a wonderful version of “Norwegian Wood” by The Beatles and an Elvis song that was driven by a chugging beat by Hines’s strumming hand.

The duo was constantly cheered on by a group of supportive fans that first heard of Hines when he performed on the clock tower stage on campus last year. Bradley Perrow and Kristin White revealed that they had been awaiting another campus performance, and felt fulfilled by the Damon’s show, even though they missed their favorite song, “House on a Hill”, due to late arrival. Hines came up to White when he heard that she missed the song, smiled, and told her, “I owe you two songs now.”

Perrow caught Hines over the summer at Jammin’ Java while he was playing with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Songwriters Circle, which consists of artists Luke Brindley, Anthony Fiacco, Hines, and Todd Wright. The group plays at Jammin’ Java from time to time, and according to Perrow, takes turns playing on the stage, rotating songs and even doing covers of each others’ works. The intimate setting makes the performance more personal, and allows listeners to focus on the lyrics and learn more about the musicians.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Songwriters Circle is coming back to Jammin’ Java in Vienna on Sunday, the day after “Team Trance” plays at the Arts on Foot Festival in D.C. For more information on both events, and to hear Shane Hines and the Trance’s songs in more depth, visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/shanehines.