In this end of a momentous year, when the air is thick with 10 Best lists and year-end wrap-up mentality, a special award may be in order. I nominate Chris Shiflett for the Show-Must-Go-On resourcefulness award of Santa Barbara’s year in music 2022. Last week, in an SRO SOhO show, Shiflett — the longtime Foo Fighters guitarist and country-rocking solo artist — showed up with only a half mouthful of teeth, figuratively speaking.
The occasion was his second annual “Hometown Holiday Hoedown” show, but half of his own quartet was MIA due to COVID. There would be no pedal steel guitar, a signature part of his current sound on record, or bassist/singer on stage. But the show did go on, with Shiflett and his drummer joined by phantom sound of pre-recorded bass and occasional harmony vocals. And lo, the band did rock and twang in most all the right ways, although we did miss the pedal steel sauce.
Shiflett served up a steamy and tasty sampling from his now three albums under his own name, climaxing with three tunes of more or less local relevance. The Santa Barbara–born and raised but now Los Angeles–based Shiflett commented, “Even though I haven’t lived here for years, every other song seems to be about Santa Barbara.”