Concert #811 - Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's Guitar Shop (october 21, 2017)

Last weekend, I saw Grammy-nominee Sarah Jarosz in concert for the second time. In many respects, this show wasn't very different from the one I caught in the summer of 2016, also at McCabe's, and that's not a bad thing at all. Once again, Sarah impressed me with her beautiful voice, outstanding singing ability, as well her gift for putting together a set list that kept everyone's attention focused on her offering.

As soon as the show ended, I turned to my friend Steve and asked him the question that had been bugging me the whole evening - I asked him whether he could name the genre that best described Sarah's music. Well, it turned out that Steve, not unlike me, wasn't able to come up with a good answer. Indeed, Sarah's style defies easy categorization, but now that I have had some time to think about it, I have come up with a decent name for what she does: it's "Retro-New-Grass", of course!

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Sarah took the stage with Nashville-based guitarist Anthony Da Costa and an upright bass player, Jeff Picker, the same outstanding picker (sorry, I just couldn't resist) who accompanied Sarah in 2016. Together, this great trio delivered a quality set that mixed cover songs with some of Sarah's own compositions. The covers were all exceptionally good, especially Tom Petty's "Time To Move On", Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" and Martha Scanlan's "Raven". I had never heard of Martha, but let me tell you, her song was arguably the evening's best moment.

Many times during the show, the various stringed instruments used by Sarah and Anthony produced an intensely processed sound that was quite a departure from what I would consider "conventional". This is not criticism, just a statement of facts. Look at these photos and you'll see what I mean:

Sarah's gear

Anthony's gear

The show also had plenty of moments that sounded 100% conventional, even to the ears of the purest of the purists, and I'll confess that those were my favorite moments of the evening.

Other than the songs I mentioned above, I also liked "House Of Mercy"and "Take Me Back", both culled from "Undercurrent", her most recent album, and her gorgeous "oldie", "Build Me Up From Bones".

The show was a sellout and there was no opening act. Overall, it was a great evening that I would like repeated.

Sarah Jarosz & Jeff Picker at McCabe's

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Tuning time

Anthony Da Costa at McCabe's

Jeff, Sarah & Anthony at McCabe's

The final bow

The set list

The stage

The backwall of the stage

Merchandise

Concert #779 - Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 17, 2016)

Friday night at McCabe's, Sarah Jarosz put on a show that ranks right up there with the finest I've ever seen at McCabe's, or anywhere else, for that matter. My concert-buddy Steve cringes whenever I throw in one superlative too many, but how can one describe Sarah Jarosz without a massive helping of superlatives?

Accompanied by two great players - Jedd Hughes on acoustic and electric guitar and Jeff Picker on upright bass - Sarah delivered a set that borrowed heavily from "Undercurrent", her just-released new album that she either wrote or co-wrote in its entirety. Her focus was firmly on music, not chatter, and that allowed her to play seventeen or eighteen songs during her blissful ninety-minute set. Kicking off her show with two of her "oldies" - "Annabelle Lee" and "Build Me Up From Bones" - Sarah treated us to her own compositions, plus a few outstanding covers, such as Tom Waits' "Come On Up To The House" and Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells".

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Accompanists Jedd and Jeff deserve extra praise for their outstanding musicianship and the way they supported Sarah - there was plenty of eye contact between the three, with Sarah sending out frequent smiles of approval to her musical cohorts.

Sarah Jarosz & Jedd Hughes at McCabe's

Sarah Jarosz & Jeff Picker at McCabe's

The star of the show was Sarah's golden voice, but I was equally impressed with her skills as an instrumentalist, as she alternated between acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and even electric guitar - her masterful rendition of Tim O'Brien's two-song instrumental medley, "Land's End" and "Chasin' Talon", was one of the highlights of an evening that did not suffer from a lack of highlights. And speaking of highlights: I enjoyed very much the self-penned "Early Morning Light" and also "Comin' Undone", a song Sarah co-wrote with the young and talented Parker Millsap. And one more thing: not too many artists have Sarah's disarming smile and humble-yet-confident stage presence.

Overall, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time at McCabe's. Experiencing Sarah's music in a live setting is something I definitely want repeated. 

The set list

Sarah Jarosz tuning her guitar

Sarah Jarosz at McCabe's

Curtis McMurtry opened the show with a thirty-minute set that, at first blush, sounded a bit uneven, yet it still managed to impress me with two outstanding songs, "Sparks In The Wind" and especially the haunting "Foxhole". By the way, Curtis is James McMurtry's son.

Curtis McMurtry at McCabe's

Sarah's instruments

The stage