Charleston's music scene keeps getting better

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There's been some great live music around town lately. Last Thursday at the Tin Roof in West Ashley, a bill featuring local singer-songwriter duo Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent and a group called the Vicious Guns, drew a solid crowd who were treated to a quality show. Headliners Hearst and Trent put on the soulful and song-driven performance local fans have come to expect from that pair. Hearst and Trent are always energetic and honest in their delivery. Thursday was no different, and the crowd visibly appreciated it. The Toronto-based Vicious Guns are an electronic, synth-pop act, driven by simple bass lines, electronic drums and early '80s post-punk guitar work. Think the Raveonettes meets The Jesus and Mary Chain meets John Doe and Exene Cervenka (of the Los Angeles band "X"). Like Hearst and Trent, Vicious Guns is also a male/female duo, featuring a tall and lean platinum blond woman named Jennie Vicious and an equally thin man sporting a Johnny Thunders look, named, appropriately enough, Richie Vicious (no relation to Sid). The Guns' music was good, but for me, the group also had a nostalgic appeal, looking and sounding like the stereotypical, anonymous "new wave" band that might play the obligatory prom or party in any random teen movie from the '80s. Lo-and-behold, Ms. Vicious told the San Diego Reader her first concert was Michael Jackson's "Victory Tour" in 1984, when she was 19. That was also my first concert, at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, when I was 10. I knew it! The Guns even dusted off an old, obscure Morrissey song. No Love and Rockets or Sigue Sigue Sputnik, though.

This Saturday, music fans should do themselves a favor by heading out to The Mill in North Charleston to check out one of my new favorite local bands, The Shaniqua Brown, joined by The Royal Tinfoil. Royal Tinfoil is always enjoyable and "The Brown" (like "Skynyrd," really cool rock bands deserve to be referenced with an abbreviation), simply put, rock--and local music offerings -- keep getting more interesting.

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For a better part of the last decade, The Village Tavern in Mount Pleasant was one of the few spots in town offering consistent original live music. I've performed there with various bands more times than I can count, as have many musicians in town. Memorable shows included national acts like Superdrag and Valient Thorr, rousing concerts from local rock bands like Madame Adam (formerly Red Handed) and Leslie, or more intimate shows where singer-songwriters like Cary Ann Hearst or Jordan Igoe always utilized the medium-sized club well.

As of last week, The Village Tavern is no more, closing its doors for good. The Lowcountry now has one less original music venue. No doubt, for both musicians and fans, The Village Tavern will be missed.