Concert #739 - Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson & Gretchen Peters at McCabe's Guitar Shop (February 21, 2015)

This was the final show of a short California tour named "Three Women and the Truth", conceived and carried out by three of America's finest female singer-songwriters: Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson & Gretchen Peters. I attended the 8 PM sold-out show. The late show (10 PM) was a bit short of a sellout.

Last night was my first time to see Gretchen Peters in concert. On the other hand, I had seen Mary and Eliza five and four times before, respectively.

Quite predictably, the stage had three chairs - Eliza sat in the middle, with Mary to her right. Each performer sang five songs, taking turns in the same order, starting with Gretchen and ending with Mary.

Gretchen's Songs

Hello Cruel World

Blackbirds

When All You Got Is A Hammer

The Matador

Five Minutes

Eliza's Songs

The Red Rose And The Thorn

Touchstone

Eliza Jane

Flatline

No Tomorrow

Mary's Songs

I Drink

Another Train

Last Of The Hobo Kings

How You Learn To Live Alone (co-written with Gretchen Peters)

Bullet Holes In The Sky (co-written with Jamie Trent)

 

Gretchen Peters at McCabe's

Eliza Gilkyson at McCabe's

Mary Gauthier at McCabe's

Eliza's offering included four numbers from "The Nocturne Diaries", her latest album. Likewise, Gretchen chose to sing songs from her most recent two albums, 2012's "Hello Cruel World" and the just-released "Blackbirds".

Eliza and Mary having a good time at McCabe's

Overall the show was thoroughly enjoyable, albeit short of perfection. Here are some of the positives:

• Stellar songwriting, from beginning to end

• Gretchen's voice and singing style were a huge hit with me. Her interpretation of "Hello Cruel World" and "When All You Got Is A Hammer" was something to behold

• Mary's incredible delivery of "I Drink" and "Last Of The Hobo Kings"

• Eliza's intense performance of "Flatline", a song from her "Hard Times In Babylon" album

• The low-key support provided by Barry Walsh on accordion. Barry is Gretchen's husband and an accomplished musician in his own right.

• The "Touchstone" sing-along, masterfully managed by Eliza, even though most people were unfamiliar with the song

And a few negatives:

• The three ladies were in a talkative mood last night - with a little bit less talk, they could have squeezed in a few more songs

• There was enough bad language for a couple of truck stops

• There was no encore

Gretchen Peters at McCabe's

The end of the show

The final bow

The stage

Gretchen after the show

Ticket-holders lining up before the show

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 #568 - Eliza Gilkyson at McCabe's Guitar Shop (September 17, 2010)

Eliza's concert at McCabe's was a bit of a family affair, with son Cisco Ryder and brother Tony Gilkyson providing accompaniment on drums and guitar, respectively. Father Terry Gilkyson was present as well, albeit only in spirit. Eliza spoke with pride and humor about her late father, a prolific songwriter whose songs I've known since I was fourteen.

During the intermission, I walked up to Eliza and asked her whether Terry's "Greenfields" was on her set list. It wasn't, came the reply, but obligingly, she sang the song for me later in her set and that was very special. After the show, I once again got close to Eliza and thanked her for having taken my request - her response was a wide and warm smile and an approving head nod. Very nice.

Eliza Gilkyson, with brother Tony and son Cisco

Overall, the show was very enjoyable. Eliza writes quality songs, her voice is still good, has fun stories to share and certainly knows how to engage an audience into a sing-along.

I went to the show with Saphire, a co-worker and Eliza fan, and her husband Michael, who just came along for the ride. Saphire loved the show, Michael survived the experience.

Michael and Saphire

Eliza Gilkyson and Saphire