New Band to Watch: Crooked Number

Dave Anderson, pedal-steel guru for Tenement Ruth and Magnolia Summer, among others, emailed to let me know that he's part of a new band called Crooked Number. The act will be making its live debut on Saturday, January 30, at the Blue Agave in Belleville. (Magic City and Tenement Ruth are also performing.) Crooked Number features Anderson and Matt Marcinkowski, both of whom were in the old-school twang band Caution Horse, and bassist Wayne Corners and drummer Dan Kassing. The band's MySpace page has some really strong demos on it, which were recorded last fall: Hints of Wilco's rootsier '90s days naturally appear, but CN has much more in common with the freewheeling bar-twang spirit of the Replacements and early Soul Asylum -- as well as the straight-up, shit-kickin' rattlesnake twang of Nashville's finest.