We’ve been big fans of Doby Watson ever since “discovering” him on a split EP with fellow Tract Records group Grumpy Bear a couple of years ago. It was a welcome surprise at the time to find out he was from Kansas City, and over the past couple of years, we’ve struck up a fairly good friendship. Like us, Doby is always on the lookout for new and interesting venues around town, so we followed his lead down to the Skinless Gallery to check the place out and catch his set.

Located at around 18th & Oak (across from Grinders), the gallery is an intimate – but not cramped – room with a functional stage, adjustable room and performance lighting, and, when cleared of the comfortable chairs which were spread around the middle of the room tonight, would have more than enough room to accommodate a decent turn-out.

Doby took the stage around 8:15 and proceeded though a roughly thirty minute set largely comprised of covers of songs about friendship and relationships originally by Manipulator Alligator, Parsen, and others from the closely-knit KC acoustic/folk scene.

Collin Rausch (who I’ve just deduced is the cousin of local bluegrass player, former Disc Traders and Recycled Sounds counter-jockey, and all-around great person Kasey Rausch) from the Abracadabras rounded out the night with a set of acoustic songs, including a few from his day-job band after it was clear that the night’s other performer, Brother Bird, wasn’t going to show.

The best part of the evening, though, was spent chatting with the guys who operate the gallery, Zac and Ben, about their plans for the space. Both have a wide range of tastes in everything from religion to music to, of course, art, and are absolutely full of motivation to do whatever it takes for as many people as possible to get the most out of their opportunity, and if you really think about it, that’s fairly rare these days.

The Skinless is a relatively new gallery in the Crossroads district, but with a little luck, it’ll have a growing presence not only in the Kansas City art district, but in the local music scene as well. They’ve got an ambitious line-up of acts coming up over the next few months, and are already thinking about long-term plans to keep the momentum moving forward.

Here’s some video of Doby’s set at Skinless shot and edited by Zac Eubank:

Doby Watson plays at Skinless Productions Gallery from Zac Eubank on Vimeo.