Austinist Presents: Elvis Perkins in Dearland with Other Lives [Second Chance]

If you missed Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Austinist's SXSW day party, you're in luck. The sorrowful troubadour returns to Austin on May 11, supporting this year's eponymous album.

Perkins, if you don't know by now, is the son of legendary Psycho Anthony Perkins, who died in 1992 due to complications with A.I.D.S. His mother, photographer Berry Berenson, died on September 11, 2001 on American Airlines flight 11, the day before the anniversary of her husband's death. All of this highly visible tragedy has certainly cast a shadow over Elvis' songwriting, but there's an undeniable hopefulness and triumph in his work that makes each and every song a unique experience -- particularly live.

With his live supporting cast of Brigham Brough (bass, vocals, saxophone), Wyndham Boylan-Garnett (organ, harmonium, trombone, guitar, vocals) and Nick Kinsey (drums, clarinet, vocals), Perkins experiments in folk, doomsday dirge, mariachi, blues, soul and even a bit of good old fashioned rock'n'roll. With this latest album, he's pushing beyond 2007's Ash Wednesday in style and form, though lyrically remaining firmly planted in the evocative, beautiful depression that seems bound to haunt him (listen to "Shampoo" for a good example of this).

What remains incredible throughout all the genre-miming on the record is the wit, confidence and playfulness of the ensemble's performance amidst the gloom. This is particularly evident live, when Kinsey steps out to center stage with a shoulder-strapped bass drum and and Boylan-Garnett joins him with trombone ("Doomsday"). Happily, this energy is present on the record as well -- and we feel sure the third record this group delivers will complete the union between ecstatic live set and live-feeling studio session.

See it for yourself in May, as Austinist giddily presents Elvis Perkins in Dearland with Other Lives at the Parish: