Honky tonky takes over the Bishop

A room full of cowboy boots and Levi Strauss still left plenty of room for dancing Wednesday night at The Bishop.

Dressed in a metallic gold suit with a tan cowboy hat and aviators, Leon Chance and His Long Shots definitely set the tempo with a little thing they liked to call honky tonk.

Encouraged by the lively music, swing dancing soon became the center of attention.

IU juniors Eric Hutson and Julia Spiegel dance regularly with IU’s Ritmos Latinos Salsa Group but decided to adapt to the night’s performance.

“Latin and honky-tonk dance have similar forms if you stretch it a bit,” Hutson said.

Even when the music slowed, the crowd’s liveliness resisted and the slow country twang was accompanied by whoops and hollers.

Spiegel said even though she came because she was looking forward to the folk genre, she was pleasantly surprised by the honky-tonk band.

“I liked them a lot. They looked great and had a fun sense of humor,” Spiegel said. “I appreciated their style.”

Taking the stage next, adding a feministic touch with a painted guitar, crocheted strap and a feather in her hair, was Texas’ Amanda Shires. She opened with a delicate ballad with strong lyrics, and the crowd immediately fell quiet as they listened to the folk singer. 

“Her lyrics were dark but just really honest,” Spiegel said. “I even wrote some down.”

The line Spiegel recorded talked about heartache, which seemed to be a focus for Shires.

“I guess I would say it’s therapeutic, drinking and sharing things with strangers,” Shires said.

Lit in a soft blue light, the now packed room seemed fully engaged as Shires began to pick things up with her fiddle.

“Her voice was beautiful. Her songs were really nice,” Hutson said.

In fact, the only thing that broke the sound of her songs was the applause in between and a few comical remarks from Shires.

“I think my favorite thing about her would be her friendliness towards the audience,” Spiegel said. “She has this genuine camaraderie about her, and the audience was into her so hard.”

Shires announced to the crowd that though this was her first time in Bloomington, she had already decided that she wants to move to Bloomington. She also complimented the crowd, saying that they were the handsomest group of people she had ever seen.

“It might just be that I am used to toothless people from touring the Southeast, but I have to say that Bloomington has the best-looking people,” Shires said. “People here are just so friendly.”

Finishing the night was local artist Aaron Persinger, who first introduced Shires to the Bloomington venue.

“Listening to country and folk, I would have to say that the night was very entertaining,” senior Zach Anno said.