Once again Kirk Avenue Music Hall in Roanoke was the site of a great night of live music, bringing in two bands deserving of a much bigger stage.

Nashville-based bluegrass band The Farewell Drifters opened the show with a fairly short set playing mostly new songs. (If the name sounds familiar, you may have heard them on WVRU’s radio show, The Listening Room.) The Drifters featured the brothers Britt—Joshua and Clayton—who played mandolin and lead guitar respectively, Zach Bevill on guitar and lead vocals, Trevor Brandt on bando, and Dean Marold on bass. The band also offered up a brand-new fiddle player who performed his first show with the Drifters—a guy so new that his name isn’t even listed on the band’s Web sites.

Joshua Britt wrote most of the songs the band played and did most of the talking between songs–although his nervous laugh and goofy stories about life on the road with his bandmates made you wonder if maybe someone else should take over. At one point he said, “Don’t worry, we’re more afraid of you than you are of us.” Seemingly he was surprised and humbled that the packed house was enjoying the show and suggested they take us all on the road with them. A group of young guys who are excellent instrumentalists, the band comes across as a sort of wholesome Old Crow Medicine Show.

The Farewell Drifters offered an excellent show, but had somewhat of a staid stage performance. Of course, that is probably in part due to packing six guys–albeit extremely thin ones–on a tiny stage.

But somehow the small stage was not too much of an obstacle for the night’s headliner Cadillac Sky. We saw Cadillac Sky at FloydFest in 2008 and the band was one of the pleasant surprises of the event. But since then the guys have switched guitarists, and the addition created a whole new sideshow to the band’s performance.

David Mayfield, whose last name was changed by bandmates as Mayhem, was a whirling dirvish of a guitarist—dancing, gyrating, sweating, and shaking throughout the performance. Mayfield, who seemed a mix of Jack Black and Charles Manson, came across as an adequate guitarist and capable vocalist, but once left alone on stage to wail his way through an old Jimmy Martin tune, complete with astounding improvisational guitar work, Mayfield proved to be a remarkable addition to the band. Mayfield also sings lead on the title track of the band’s new EP, Weary Angel.

The band played plenty of their own material, songs that range from “Inside Joke,” which is an infectious, fun tune that is sure to stick in your head, to the gospel style, “Sinners Welcome,” to “Bible by the Bed,” an emotional tale of domestic violence.

Cadillac Sky offered a couple other well-placed cover songs in their show including a beautiful version of the Death Cab for Cutie single “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” and a roof-raising rendition The Buggles 1980s classic “Video Killed the Radio Star,” that latter being a stunning highlight of the live music experience.

But while Mayfield offered a new energy to the band, the rest of the group remains remarkable on their own. Bryan Simpson is the big man in the middle on mandolin who holds the group together and sings lead vocals on most of the tunes. Ross Holmes is the band’s fiddle player and a pretty good vocalist in his own right. Holmes showed his celtic fiddle chops in the instrumental “Majestic Swan,” which he wrote, and also played guitar on a song. Matt Menefee illustrated his skills on the banjo all night as did Andy “The Panda” Moritz on bass.

The evening ended with Mayhem, um, Mayfield breaking a guitar string during a frenzied encore and then, encouraged by Simpson to “take them all off,” Mayfield continued to rip out strings and left the stage by tossing around a few drums. (Oh yeah, did we mentioned the band rocked a drum set on a couple of songs?)

Overall, the night proved to be a great double-header of music that suited fans who love the bluegrass instrumentation without necessarily having to stick with the strict confines of traditional bluegrass sounds.

Tim W. Jackson and Taryn Chase are music fans who are happy to be covering area music for the New River Voice.