LanceBattalion: Before the Storm
The Muscle Shoals sound lives on in the next generation
To some, LanceBattalion might sound like the title of a video game, but those who’ve seen this band play know LanceBattalion is a band of 19 and 20 year old musicians from Mansfield, Texas. Mansfield is in the southern metroplex and gave birth to the band as high school students, and their name, LanceBattalion, is a tribute to the history teacher who helped them early on — Lance Davis.
I’ve always believed every band has a gift — one member with a particularly outstanding talent. In LanceBattalion, Michael Ajemian has the gift, with an expressive and gritty delivery that reminded me most of Taylor Hanson’s voice when he began maturing beyond his teenage pop years, and the soulful and raspy texture of Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.
That’s not to denigrate the talent of the other members of the band because they were all great in their own right, but the moment I heard Michael sing a few lines, I knew he was more than just a kid in a garage band.
Michael has a gift.
The guys served up southern rock right from the jump with a couple Lynyrd Skynyrd songs in a row, plus a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times, and Hold on Loosely by .38 Special. The Muscle Shoals sound was apparent, and Michael’s guitar evoked memories of the guitars Skynyrd’s Allen Collins played.
Walker Pierce was great, a steady bassist, and he looked like a mythical figure standing on the stage with storm clouds gathering behind him.
Did I mention there was a storm? I didn’t know it was coming at this point. I was busy taking pics of lead guitarist, Brock Horton.
I could be off-base, but as an observer, it seemed to me that Brock was not only an excellent lead guitarist, he was also the most comfortable on the stage. With their young ages in mind, I don’t think it’s a surprise or an insult to say LanceBattalion have yet to achieve the comfortable confidence to roam the stage. There was a subtle stiffness that seemed to come from concentrating really hard on making sure the music and performance sound good. With the southern rock theme always present, some twin guitar leads from Ajemian and Horton as they explore their space would fit the mold perfectly.
LanceBattalion’s gig at Woody’s in Wichita Falls was a stop on their tour, which also included a date in Pueblo, Colorado the following night.
Drummer Dawson Washington largely drove the truck for the set, and in moments where this young band seemed to hesitate, it was Washington who propelled LanceBattalion to the other side.
I was grateful as a photographer for the stagelighting supplied by DJ Tito’s Productions. It made for nice photos.
I got to see LanceBattalion perform maybe 9 or 10 songs when Ajemian announced they were taking a 10-minute break and said they were thinking about covering some stuff up in case they got rained on.
I thought that sounded like a good time to go, so I headed to my truck and started out of the parking lot. I wasn’t even in the street yet and the wind was suddenly insane. It actually pushed my truck toward the side of the road with a force I have not experienced before in my time as a driver. Crazy stuff.
The rest of the show got canceled, of course, LanceBattalion ducked out of town and made it to Pueblo, and as we all know, our community has been devastated. Donate to the Wichita Falls area food bank here. And make a point to see LanceBattalion before they find their groove for good and everybody knows who they are.
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