Jerry Battista really likes naming the bands he plays in after sedentary

Jerry Battista really likes naming the bands he plays in after sedentary furniture. At the Rimrock on Wednesdays and the Little Red Hen on Sundays, he plays in a three-piece called the Davanos, and on every first and third Monday at Mr. Villa, he plays in an acoustic outfit called the Lazy Boys. Battista also plays in the Dusty 45s, for which he’s best known; the bands of which we write here are cover bands — and they each include the inimitable Fred Holzman (pictured at left) on drums.Last night, the Lazy Boys were a three-piece, featuring Paul Huston on bass. While the band didn’t stray much from their typically wide-ranging Rimrock set list, gigging at Mr. Villa is night and day from their more raucous Rimrock sojourns. Mr. Villa is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant — a very good Mexican restaurant — on Lake City Way. They have sangria, tequila, and beer, but there’s no bar to hunker down at — whereas with the Rimrock, despite technically being a steakhouse, food is something of an afterthought. At Mr. Villa, there are also small children. No one in their right mind would allow small children into the Rimrock’s lounge.At the Rimrock, the Davanos rock, and the ever-animated, indefatigable Holzman is the undisputed ringleader, cajoling reluctant onlookers to join him in round after round of shots. At Mr. Villa, he nurses a salt-rimmed margarita and plays his drums softly, ceding center stage to Battista, a wonderful acoustic guitarist and equally gifted vocalist who is as relaxed as Holzman is expressive (read: very). Holzman’s voice is gravelly while Battista’s is true, and a seamless segue between Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” (with Holzman on lead vocals) and Crowded House’s “Always Take the Weather With You” (with Battista singing lead) showed just how well the two play off one another (their harmonies are similarly airtight). Their Rimrock gigs prove they can light up a room, while the Mr. Villa gigs exhibit their sterling musicianship. All in all, it’s well worth catching them in such an unexpected, intimate light.