Orville Peck Adds a New Chapter to His Story

“It's a special night for us — a dream come true," declared Orville Peck in his trademark booming baritone to a packed crowd gathered on Friday the 13th for the masked musician's first-ever Ryman headlining gig. The fanfare around Peck — queer cowboy, wayward troubadour — has only grown since his left-field Sub Pop hit debut Pony three years back. Having jumped to major label Columbia for his second LP Bronco, he returned to Music City with a new batch of songs, and followers eager to hear them.

A little earlier, Nashville’s own Teddy and the Rough Riders gave folks finding their seats a set that teased their ability to go long on their Southern psych and country-rock leanings, but kept it accessible for the occasion. The group has toured with Peck throughout the spring, making up for a 2020 tour they were supposed to do together that was canceled because of COVID. Teddy’s core trio of Ryan Jennings, Jack Quiggins and Nick Swafford (augmented here by guests including Joshua Halper, who's on guitar in the pic above) has long been road dogs, and it’s great to see them get an enthusiastic response from Peck and audiences alike.

Onstage, in the studio and any other moment Peck is in music mode, the singer-songsmith-guitarist wears his Zorro-like fringed face mask, which is more than a costume. When the Scene had a chat with Peck in 2019, he explained that his creative North Star is Dolly Parton: “I didn't realize she was a real person when I was a kid — I thought she was a character, like Pee-wee Herman, because she was larger than life.” Regarding his own songs, he continued: “I write about personal experiences — where I've lived and traveled, people I've met — and do it with some flair, because that's how I want to do it. I don't see it as a character, or a shtick. I'm Orville Peck, and these are my stories.”

Clad in a sharp dark-green suit, Peck shared those stories with a commanding presence that didn’t feel choreographed. Between hip-shakes and high-kicks, he met his bandmates at their stations to rock out in unison. His chemistry with guitarist Bria Salmena, the Toronto-residing musician who shared lead vocal duties with Peck on Bronco closer “All I Can Say,” was electric. Salmena also stood in admirably for Shania Twain on the original “Legends Never Die” and for Emmylou Harris on the Gram Parsons cover “Ooh Las Vegas.” My showgoing companion likened Salmena’s husky vocals to Martha Wainwright's; when she and Peck sang together, it echoed the charmingly off-kilter dynamic between X's John Doe and Exene Cervenka.

Pony was sparse and haunting, and the backing players at Peck's second-to-most-recent Nashville show at Mercy Lounge for AmericanaFest '19 conjured a delirious racket. But the tunes and performances this time around felt slicker, brighter and more fleshed-out. Nearing the midpoint of its cross-continental itinerary, the current band was a well-oiled machine. A raucous take on Pony standout “Turn to Hate,” played early in the set, boasted spot-on multipart harmonies and triple-guitar action, with Peck's hollow-body Gretsch serving jangle for days.

Peck embraced the role of entertainer, with ample between-song background info and colorful asides. Ahead of Pony's “Queen of the Rodeo,” a yearning ode to a drag queen, he implored showgoers to support the local drag community. “I recommend it if you like art, hard work, determination and passion,” he said. “It's for everybody. Tip them in cash.” 

For the midset waltz “Drive Me, Crazy,” from Peck's stopgap 2020 EP Show Pony, he relocated to the piano at stage left, and dedicated the tune to “the truck drivers out there.” Long-haul trucker or not, it felt like each person in the room hung on Peck's every word. “He hasn't missed a note yet!” marveled a neighbor in my section.

Bronco continues to play up the legend Peck established on his debut. Slower tunes like the wide-eyed road song “Outta Time,” effusive ballad “C'mon Baby, Cry,” and majestic centerpiece “Kalahari Down” translated sublimely in the live setting. The word-salad pastiche “Any Turn,” however, didn't land as well; it adds little to what Bob Dylan or R.E.M. did, respectively, with “Subterranean Homesick Blues” or “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” Disappointingly, it seems that “Buffalo Run,” my shoegaze-y personal fave from Pony, has been phased out of the set list.

After the main set ended with Bronco's rambunctious titular tune, Peck & Co. returned to the stage amid stadium-rock-like chants of “OR-VILLE!” Peck guided the band and audience through a single-song encore, “Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call).” The call-and-response exercise grew so heavy on whistling, hooting and hollering it sent me toward the exits a few minutes early. 

My tolerance for overzealous fans aside, the hour-plus performance built up at all the right points, wound down when it felt natural to, and altogether hit the mark. Rejoicing in the pews spilled into the aisles, and young, queer attendees all around had what appeared to be religious experiences. For the time being, questions about the mileage Peck can ultimately get out of being a masked balladeer felt irrelevant — this evening was one that’ll live on.