Concert #520 - Pieta Brown at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 20, 2009)

I first saw Pieta Brown when she opened for J.J. Cale at McCabe's in March 2009 and I liked her quite a bit. Her headlining gig, also at McCabe's, was a somewhat different experience. The show wasn't bad, but it lacked changes of pace and was a little short on variety - Pieta writes good songs, but they all fit the same mold, more or less. But I don't mean to sound exceedingly negative, Pieta is a talented performer who will be around for many years to come.

The standout tracks were "Ring Of Gold" and "How Many Times", with some great guitar work from husband Bo Ramsey. She also sang her own "In My Mind I Was Talkin' To Loretta", plus a few classic folk-blues covers.

At no time did Bo Ramsey's electric guitar overpower Pieta's voice. On the contrary, his tasteful and understated playing was a great complement to Pieta's songs.

Bo Ramsey and Pieta Brown

The opening act was Dead Rock West, a Los Angeles-based folk-rock band featuring Cindy Wasserman on vocals.

Concert #521 - Iris DeMent at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 25, 2009)

Iris DeMent's concert at McCabe's sold out weeks before the show, not unexpectedly - she had not appeared there since 1993 - so I went there with high expectations.

I walked into the concert room and I froze: the world's largest baby grand piano was sitting on McCabe's' tiny stage. How they managed to put it there, I will never know. But there was nothing grand about the show proper, I'm sad to say.

Iris sang most of her songs while accompanying herself on the piano and to me, they all sounded just about the same: same voice, same rhythm, same everything. She appeared to be somewhat lethargic, almost uninterested. Things got a lot more interesting when she picked up the guitar, but that was only for three or four songs, then back to the piano. There were a few songs I knew, among them "My Life".

Overall, it was a disappointing evening. My friend Steve M, also in the audience, had similar comments, a clear indication that it wasn't just me.

There was no opening act, nor any guests.

Concerts #436, 522 - Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks at McCabe's Guitar Shop (April 14, 2007 - September 27, 2009)

After my fairly disappointing first encounter with Dan Hicks in 2007 (concert #436), I'm surprised that I gave him a second chance, but I did, hence my concert #522 in 2009.

Dan's 2007 concert was announced as "Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks Present A Salute To The Folk Years". That was tempting enough to make me buy four tickets and drag my good friends Bob & Lynne to McCabe's. 

The Hot Licks came out with two talented vocalists, Roberta Donnay and Daria, along with guitarist Dave Bell, mandolin and banjo player Adam Gabriel and bassist Paul Smith. Together with Dan, they sang some of the better-known songs from the 1960s, such as "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," "If I Had A Hammer," the Carter Family's "Jimmy Brown, The Newsboy" and Hoyt Axton's "Greenback Dollar". Between songs, Dan talked about the original artists whose songs he was about to perform.

So why did I mention disappointment in my first sentence? Well, Dan Hicks read most of his stories from a paper that he held up in his hand. I thought that was a bit disrespectful toward his fans - even my mother-in-law can talk about Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger without having to read someone's writeup. 

Many of Dan's cover songs did not sound as good as the originals. I know, Dan Hicks is Dan Hicks, his sound is unlike anybody else's and he is not supposed to mimic the originals, but the bottom line is that I did not find his renditions particularly exciting.

But there were a few highlights: "Scotch And Soda", "Jug Band Music", "Feel Like Singing" and "Scare Myself" were quite good.

For the September 2009 show, Dan brought along essentially the same band as in 2007: Roberta Donnay, Daria, Dave Bell and Paul Smith. This time there were no classic folk songs, only typical Dan Hicks songs, with a few exceptionally good extended instrumental parts. All-in-all it was a good show, but not the kind you must see again and again.

Concerts #388, 523 - Eliza Gilkyson at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 21, 2006 - October 10, 2009)

Eliza Gilkyson is yet another outstanding artist whose talent is inversely proportional with her name recognition. Come to think of it, I myself am guilty of being a latecomer to Eliza's music, but once I got started, there was no going back.

My first encounter with Eliza took place in January 2006 and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that concert is the F-Bomb that she dropped right there on stage. Fine ladies who write beautiful lyrics and make gorgeous music needn't resort to bad language and that's just my opinion. Well, it happened only once, and otherwise the show was clean and quite good.

She sang many songs from her just-released album "Paradise Hotel", among them "Jedidiah 1777", "Man Of God", Borderline" and "Bellarosa". She spoke lovingly about her father, Terry Gilkyson, and sang "The Bare Necessities", one of his better-known songs.

Her show in October 2009 was just as good. Eliza's performance was warm and gentle, her voice was in perfect shape and the songs were all great. Nina Gerber accompanied her on guitar throughout the show. Brother Tony was there as well to help out on guitar and Van Dyke Parks assisted on piano. Eliza sang "Rare Bird and "Clever Disguise", both from her 2008 album titled "Beautiful World". There were no F-words this time.

Eliza & Tony Gilkyson

The McCabe's crowd, just before the show

Concert #586 - Abigail Washburn at McCabe's Guitar Shop (March 26, 2011)

Abigail Washburn's sold-out concert at McCabe's was a pleasant and somewhat unexpected surprise, even though she is not a great singer, nor a virtuoso banjo player. On the other hand, her singing is much better than just "good enough" and so is her banjo playing. Now throw in a band made up of a few talented young musicians and the end result was an enjoyable evening full of good music and overall good vibes.

Abigail is typically described as a "banjo player", so I was expecting some breathtaking solos and occasional displays of virtuosity. Well, the crowd got none of that - her playing was subdued and essentially relegated to the background. But her band was great, and together they sounded quite good.

ABIGAIL'S BAND

Kai Welch - Guitar, trumpet, keyboards, vocals

Rayna Gellert - Fiddle

Jamie Dick - Drums

John Estes - Upright bass

Kai Welch impressed me quite a bit. He's a good singer and is handy with instruments from very different families - how often can one see someone switch from guitar to keyboards to trumpet?

The multi-talented Kai Welch

The presence of drummer Jamie Dick on the stage led to a flurry of dick references, with Abigail taking center-stage, but it was all done in relatively good taste. I liked Jamie's "whistle talk", a short non-musical interlude that was quite amusing.

The highlight of the evening was "Nobody's Fault But Mine". They also played a couple of gospel songs that were very good. There was plenty of variety in Abigail's set, so my mind never had a chance to wander away. I even enjoyed her two Chinese-songs - I usually don't relate well to Asian music and I was stunned to see that her attempts to engage the crowd into a sing-along in Chinese were successful.

Husband Bela Fleck did not show up, but we all went home happy anyway.

The stage just before the show

Abigail Washburn and most of the band at the end of the show

Abigail Washburn tuning between sets

Set list - Part 1

Set list - Part 2

I went to the show with George, a Toronto-based childhood friend. It was his first time at McCabe's and he seemed to have liked the experience.

My friend George at McCabe's

Concerts #445, 524 - John Wesley Harding at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 22, 2007 - October 18, 2009)

John Wesley Harding has a special place in my heart, well beyond my appreciation for his music: he is the first artist I've ever seen at McCabe's, the best concert venue in the Universe. Back in 1990, my interest in Wes' music was at its peak, so I did not think much about driving 102 miles, round trip, to catch him live in concert. His show was terrific, so I went back a few more times to see him again. But then, in 1996, I felt that his newer albums just weren't as good as his earlier ones, so I began drifting away from his music and eventually stopped following him altogether.

Sooner or later, it had to happen ... I reconnected with Wes in July 2007, after an eleven-year long hiatus, and I'm very glad I did.  He came out with his reconstituted old band, the Radical Gentlemen:

Robert Lloyd - piano, mandolin

Chris von Sneidern - bass

Kevin Jarvis - drums 

Kirk Swan - guitar

Wes looked more mature - surprise, surprise - but sounded just like his old self and exuded the same self-confidence he had always had. There were many new songs, but they all sounded good to me, especially the self-deprecating "Top Of The Bottom". He also sang a couple of songs from "Here Comes The Groom", which to this day I believe is his best album.

Long-time friend and musical partner Chris von Sneidern opened for Wes in October 2009. His set was surprisingly good, with quite a few catchy songs.

Chris von Sneidern

My friend Steve A, who had not seen Wes before, took my advice and showed up as well. We sat together in the front row, from where we enjoyed a very good performance. Wes received support from half of the Radical Gentlemen, namely Chris von Sneidern and Robert Lloyd.

John Wesley Harding taking the final bow at McCabe's (October 2009)

John Wesley Harding signing autographs at McCabe's (October 2009)

Concert poster (2009)