TETONIA, Idaho — A mid-October show at Tetonia Club with an adventurous artist is a recipe for discovery. Leading his trio through gentle and not-so-gentle folk-rock landscapes, Minnesota-born singer-songwriter Ian George offers a compelling sound that borders frolic and wondering — drawing comparisons to Iron & Wine with the friskiness of Vampire Weekend. Ian George & the Knee Pockets roll into the Tetonia Club on Friday.
Whimsicality, clever arrangements and triumphant tangents — both in the music and the stage banter — anchor the live show for George and his compadres. There is one motive for their time on stage: allow a good time. A trio sans bass, George (acoustic guitar, voice) is joined by drummer Ethan Boardman and electric guitarist Jack Radsliff. And this is not George’s first rodeo. He has founded and led a handful of bands (with members of Billy Strings, Caleb Klauder Band and Patchy Sanders) while touring extensively through the U.S., Canada, and Europe. In the summer of 2019, George performed his debut solo set at the Cambridge Folk Festival in Cambridge, England, and his debut solo album Kingdom of My Youth charted on the national NACC Folk charts for seven consecutive weeks. George is also one half of the award-winning folk duo Fellow Pynins, and is currently based in an off-grid commune deep in the mountains of southern Oregon.
A frisky and flamboyantly charismatic whipper-snapper of a man, George identifies as a simple folk troubadour who takes great fancy in the occasional rock-out. It’s a live show that will ask the audience to dance, sway, sing, laugh, and probably cry, too.
Ian George & the Knee Pockets, 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at Tetonia Club. Doors 5 p.m. $10. TetoniaClub.com.
