Squarewheel is another Texas (Dallas) band that is a great pleasure to see and hear. As with most all of the bands performing at Rock The Bayou, Squarewheel rose above blistering, energy draining heat to provide the crowd a set worthy of being on a larger stage than what they were on.
As I walked across the festival grounds toward Squarewheel’s stage I could hear them playing in the distance, and the first thing that crossed my mind was “That sounds so much like Humble Pie it’s almost eerie”. As I got up closer to the stage, I saw a quartet of young guys that in their own way resembled The Black Crowes during their “Shake Your Money Maker” days – young, attractive, and very into their music with a laid back type of energy.
Since I’d never seen or heard Squarewheel before, I really didn’t know their tunes or their “live” act. I found out later when I asked them for the set list they played at Rock The Bayou, that the guys in this band pride themselves on “being in the moment”. When they told me they never play the same set twice and couldn’t remember what they had played that day, I knew I had my review writing work cut out for me. 
There’s a very cool, confidence in that concept, and an intelligent strategy for creating and drawing in a constant fan base, once again reminding me of the “old days”.
I remember Zeppelin’s early days and how one never really knew what they were going to play or for how long, which added considerably to their “mystique” AND their popularity. They, too, had stressed playing how they felt “on the day” and not necessarily what they’d played or recorded the day before.
That said, and wracking my brain to remember what I’d heard Squarewheel play, I realized that it really didn’t matter what they’d played, what is important is how they had played it and the impact it had made. After listening to their cd, though (see cd review), I do remember hearing them play “Impatience”, sounding and looking a lot like The Black Crowes and “People”, a Led Zep type rocker with an easy going style.
Squarewheel is made up of extremely soulful lead vocalist, Jake Parker, who also plays guitar on a few tunes; Caleb Hallowed throwing in some very stylish and powerful lead guitar, Chris Wilkinson brings it home playing a very steady bass guitar alongside the rhythmic drumming of Matt Beasley. All together, this tight band fits a lot of descriptions but in a few words, I’d have to say they are energized blues rock influenced by some powerful heavy hitters who’s classic rock sounds we still hear regularly on current day radio.
With the simple addition of a hot organ player in their live show along with some very minor fine tuning, Squarewheel shows great promise of rising up from playing the club circuit to frequently working the bigger venues real soon. They have the tunes, the stage presence and the enthusiastic attitude already nicely packaged and ready to rock.
