DIY Faves Styrofoam Winos, Josh Halper and Abby Johnson Plug Back In

In the dog days of last year's COVID summer, seated in front of my TV scrawling out notes on one of the many local-band livestreams I covered for the Scene, I wondered what my first intimate in-person concert would feel like. Sunday’s triple bill with Styrofoam Winos, Josh Halper and Abby Johnson, in a backyard in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, answered that. The pandemic isn’t over, but those I talked with among the 40 or so showgoers at the afternoon gig concurred that it felt at once ordinary and surreal to be there. 

A weather-beaten, gear-strewn carport surrounded by overgrown grass, with a tree canopy helping temper the late-spring humidity, was the setting on Sunday — a tableau reminiscent of shows at Riverside Village’s much-missed Fond Object. The Vietti Foods plant looming directly behind the house explained the venue’s name: The Chili Factory. Whirring machinery, incoming and outgoing trains and interstate traffic in the distance gave all three sets an ambient backdrop. The show hosts generously sated guests with fresh pulled pork, potato chips, cookies, ice water and cold beer. 

I arrived as Abby Johnson was wrapping up her opening set. Though I was preoccupied scanning the grounds for familiar faces, the electric-folk singer-songwriter's closing tune stuck. It was an escapist road song in the spirit of Springsteen’s Nebraska, and ended things on a promising note. 

Josh Halper and Styrofoam Winos are both local acts I’d never met or seen live before writing features on their respective recent releases — Halper's late-2020 Alrightnik and the Winos’ early-’21 self-titled LP. But even though we'd only previously spoken over the phone and on Zoom, their presences felt warm and familiar. Leading a four-piece band through selections from Alrightnik was ex-Western Medication axman Halper. Wielding a black Strat, he brought energy and zeal — my notes include “skronk,” “wah” and “choogle” — to the album’s unlikely but effective combination of moods. The set included laid-back story songs like the gentle, meandering “Who Knows” and stirring, intricate instrumentals like “Reflections.” Halper’s stage banter was also top-tier, hinting at a possible side career in stand-up comedy for the 26-year-old Music City native.  

Not unlike how a stand-up might perform more loosely when they know they aren’t being taped, the Winos’ set was easygoing, charming and joyous. Multi-instrumentalists Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant and Joe Kenkel, joined Sunday by regular collaborator Ross Collier, all have albums of their own to draw from in addition to the full-band material from Styrofoam Winos. I imagine every Winos set is a little different, but this one felt like something of a cross between the late-’60s West Village and early-’90s Olympia, Wash. 

The tunes split the difference between raucous and vibey. Album opener and fan favorite “Stuck in a Museum” and Turner’s acute critique on New Nashville “Skyline Top Removal” got the crowd moving. Kenkel’s SW standout “Once” and a Nikrant tune that could’ve passed for a lost Silver Jews song wound things down. (That Nikrant song is slated for his next solo album, due in November.)

As I walked out to the street, I heard a voice — presumably one of the show hosts — say into the mic, “Welcome back, everyone.” After a year no one would want to live through again, it felt like the opening proclamation to a summer to remember.

See our slideshow for more photos.