Concert #489 - Po' Girl at the Claremont Folk Music Center (December 14, 2008)

Claremont's Folk Music Center is a fun music store and occasional concert venue, founded decades ago by Ben Harper's grandparents. Today, the store is owned by Ben Harper himself, and as far as I know, is operated by Ben's family. The place is not big - there's a small stage in one corner and there's just enough room for seventy-five folding chairs, which in essence defines the Folk Music Center's problem: they cannot generate enough money to attract the caliber of artists who usually perform at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.

Better known in their native Canada than in the States and with nothing but local advertising, Po' Girl still managed to sell out their Claremont gig and I don't think anyone went home unhappy. I know I didn't. Singers Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira took turns at singing lead, they harmonized, played a variety of instruments and told a few good stories. They sang mostly in English, but they threw in a French song or two. I liked very much the sound of Allison's clarinet, an instrument one seldom hears at folks music concerts, and was amazed by Awna's gutbucket bass, an instrument I had not seen before, nor since. The highlight of the show was "'Til It's Gone", a catchy tune with beautiful lyrics.

All in all, Po' Girl proved to be a highly likeable group that certainly deserves to play in front of larger audiences. I seldom buy CDs anymore, but when I do, I buy directly from the artist. Before going home, I picked up Po' Girl's "Deer In The Night" album, released just a few months before the concert I attended.

Here's a video that captures Allison and Awna at their contagious best:

One final note: concert tickets cost only $12 ... I pay more for parking when I go to larger venues ...

The Folk Music Center, Claremont, California

Concert #490 - April Verch at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 9, 2009)

I decided to catch April Verch's show at McCabe's after having seen a few of her intriguing videos on YouTube. She hails from Canada. She sings. She plays the fiddle. She step dances. And she can do all of them at the same time. Clearly, this young lady is talented. Very talented.

Accompanied by her husband and percussionist Marc Bru, April played, sang and danced her heart out. At first, her show was both captivating and entertaining, but after forty-five minutes or so, her act became "more of the same" and when the concert was finally over, I went home with a slight sense of unfulfilled expectations. I wouldn't mind seeing her again as an opening act, but not as a headliner.

Marc Bru

And speaking of opening acts: the proceedings were kicked off by American singer-songwriter Brad Colerick, who managed to impress me quite a bit. His songs were great, without exception, and I loved his voice and delivery. What a surprise!

His best song, I thought, was "Juarez". Here's a live rendition of the song:

Concert #492 - Peter Rowan at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 16, 2009)

 

Peter Rowan has been a favorite of mine for over twenty years now, and like the good fan that I am, I haven't missed any of his not-frequent-enough concerts at McCabe's. 

As if he didn't know anyone in LA, Peter came out all by himself and, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, delivered his first set with strong vocals and playing. He sang "Tumbleweed", "Panama Red", "Lonesome L.A. Cowboy", "Wild Mustang" and a new number titled "Two of a Kind".

After a short break, Peter came back for his second set, but this time he brought some company along: Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, both huge favorites of mine! The crowd screamed with excitement and so did I.

Dave Rawlings, Peter Rowan and Gillian Welch at McCabe's (January 16, 2009) (photo by Roman Cho)

Their beautiful vocal harmonies and great guitar playing were something to behold. Together they sang "The Winds of Time", "Free Mexican Air Force", "Rainmaker" and a few more. Gillian sang lead on just one song, Bob Dylan's "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine".

The three of them remained on the stage not only for the entire duration of the second set but also for their two-song encore. Talk about getting your money's worth!

Gillian Welch at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica

Overall, it was an exciting evening like few others. How can one not love McCabe's?

Concert #597 - Jill Sobule & John Doe at McCabe's Guitar Shop (July 9, 2011)

This was the second of two sold-out shows at McCabe's featuring the unlikely pairing of two artists from different generations and different musical backgrounds. Yet Jill Sobule and John Doe got along just fine, as if they had been playing together for a lifetime. It almost felt like watching two old friends jamming in a living room, that's how relaxed and comfortable with each other they appeared to be. It's always the case: when the performers are having fun, so is the audience, and we all had a lot of fun, with great songs and good humor that just kept coming and coming.

The stage, photographed just before the show

Frequently alternating between various stringed instruments, both acoustic and electric, Jill and John played songs from "A Day At The Pass", their current joint album, as well as some of their older material. Jill was in perfect vocal shape and I was delighted to once again hear "Where Is Bobbie Gentry", "Good Life", "Mexican Wrestler" and "San Francisco", among her other songs. Watching her intense delivery from my front-row seat was pure joy - if you have not seen Jill live, you don't know what you're missing. John Doe was equally good. I enjoyed all of his new material, but what I liked the best was his punk-ish delivery of "White Girl", from his days with X.

I typically don't like the use of profanities on stage, certainly not by female performers, but Jill's use of the F-word in her "We Want Our America Back" was nothing short of hilarious.

Throughout the evening, Jill and John were accompanied by bassist Dave Carpenter. Toward the end of the show, local songstress Cindy Wasserman popped in for a song.

What? No roadies? Jill and John setting up before the show.

The set list

Jill Sobule and John Doe at McCabe's (July 9, 2011)

The show was opened by singers Sean Wheleer & Zander Schloss, with the latter doubling up as an able multi-instrumentalist. Although somewhat dissimilar in terms of their musical backgrounds, Sean and Zander combined well to play a listenable set of self-penned songs. Zander's use of the bouzouki added more color to their set.

All-in-all, it was yet another great evening of music at McCabe's.

Alan Kanter (left) and Wayne Griffith, with a combined 75 years of sound engineering experience at McCabe's

Window poster at McCabe's

Concerts #390, 397, 415, 448, 456, 460, 469, 488, 491, 500 - Jackshit at McCabe's Guitar Shop (January 28, 2006 - March 13, 2009)

My concert list has lots of repeats, three-peats and so on. It's simple - if I like someone's show, I become a "follower" and the next time the artist is in town, I'm there as well, sometimes many more times, until I reach a saturation point. After having seen twenty-one Jackshit concerts, I'm as far from the saturation point as I was on Day 1. That's not an indication as to how crazy I am - it only shows how great a band they are.

There are a few other Jackshit write-ups in this blog, so I won't repeat here who they are and what they do. But I will say that much: no matter who else is in town, I'd catch their show every time. Enough said.

Partial list of the songs performed by Jackshit over the years:

Hi How Are Ya? (their show opener)

Christine's Tune (Devil In Disguise) (Flying Burrito Brothers oldie)

Long Black Veil

Pretty Polly

2x4 (written by Pat MacDonald of Timbuk 3 fame)

Hold That Critter Down (Maddox Brothers oldie)

Bull Rider (written by Rodney Crowell for Johnny cash, his ex-Father-in-Law)

Ugly And Slouchy

Old Kentucky Home (Flying Burrito Brothers oldie)

Home In My Hand

Down In The Willow Garden

Tears A Go-Go (Charlie Rich)

Dangerous Crossing

Never Like This Before (Peter Wolf tune)

You'd Better Get Right

Gone Gone Gone (Everly Brothers classic)

Price Of Love (yet another Everly Brothers classic)

Older Guys (Flying Burrito Brothers oldie)

You Don't Miss Your Water

Lazy Day (Flying Burrito Brothers

Big River

Louisiana (another Randy Newman gem)

I'm Hoping That You're Hoping

I've Got A Tiger By The Tail (Buck Owens classic)

I Believe To My Soul (Ray Charles tune)

The Lonely Bull (Herb Alpert instrumental)

Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash classic)

Sin City

I'm Coming Home (Johnny Horton)

Crimson And Clover

Boom Boppa Boom (from Jimmie Vaughan's repertoire)

Get Out Of My Life Woman (Lee Dorsey's mild hit from the sixties)

I Hung It Up (Junior Brown's 1996 single)

Hocus Pocus

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Drinkin' Or Drivin' (another Pat MacDonald obscure tune)

And When I Die

Green Eyed Lady

Let The Sunshine In (From Hair, the musical)

Dark As A Dungeon (Johnny Cash oldie)

Jesus Is Just Alright

Candy Man

Out Of Time (Rolling Stones classic)

Quite often - but not often enough - Jackshit brings out unannounced musical guests who typically don't get introduced with their real names, but that's to be expected from a band whose members call themselves Beau Shit, Shorty Shit and Piece O'Shit.

On January 28, 2006, the band was joined for a few songs by a certain John Shit, then on December 14, 2007, it was Chris Shit's turn to perform with the Boys from Cochtotan. The mystery guests were none other than John C. Riley and Chris Stills, who seemingly had no problem accepting their new and definitely temporary monikers. Australia's Kara Grainger was treated a whole lot better on December 6, 2008. Playing and singing under her real name, Kara impressed me enough to make me buy her "Grand And Green River" CD.

John C. Riley

Chris Stills

Kara Grainger

My recommendation: The next time you are within 100 miles of a Jackshit live appearance, do yourself a favor and be there.

Concert #596 - Chip Taylor at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 19, 2011)

Chip Taylor is a class act. What makes me say that? Well, a classy musician would meet his fans before the show and shake a few hands. Chip Taylor did that. A class act would introduce his band before they played a single note. Chip did that, too. There.

Once again, Chip Taylor put on an outstanding show, with humor and great songs, new and old, and lots of captivating stories, mostly from his younger days. Yes, he did drop more than just a handful of names, but not in a self-aggrandizing way. Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Chet Atkins, Merle Haggard and even my beloved Bert Kaempfert got mentioned, but the night belonged to "Rock and Roll Joe", the generic name given by John Platania and Chip Taylor to the "unsung heroes of rock n' roll", the musicians whose guitar licks and drum beats have been heard by zillions, but remained anonymous behind the superstars they were supporting.

Concert announcement in the window at McCabe's

The bare-bone concert announcement posted in the window at McCabe's gave no clue as to the massive talent that was about to take the stage inside. Chip came out with John Platania, best known as Van Morrison's longest serving guitarist, bassist Tony Mercadante and - huge surprise !! - the young and gifted Kendel Carson. John, Kendel and Chip had just released their latest collaboration, an album titled "Rock And Roll Joe", so appropriately, they went on to play the album in its entirety. Except for "I Can't Let Go", the old Hollies hit from the 1960s, the album featured all new material, written primarily by John, Kendel and Chip. The whole thing sounded good from start to finish.

Chip Taylor's set list

With the new album behind them, it was time for Chip's biggest hits, "Angel Of The Morning" and "Wild Thing", played in quick succession, followed by Chip's more recent "Charcoal Sky". Next, Kendel took center stage (not literally) to perform "Ten Lost Men" and "Oh Baby Lie Down", both from "Alright Dynamite", her second album. The show ended with Chip's "I Wasn't Born In Tennessee".

The highlight of the show? Hard to tell. Maybe Kendel's beautiful voice. Or John's guitar playing. Or Chip's songs. Or all of the above.

After the show, I had once again the pleasure of shaking hands and chatting for a minute or two with Chip Taylor, who, stunningly, remembered me from over a year ago. Wow.

Chip Taylor shaking hands with fans before the show

John Platania, Chip Taylor & Kendel Carson at McCabe's (June 2011)

John Platania, Chip Taylor & Kendel Carson at McCabe's (June 2011)

Spotted among the crowd: guitar legend Albert Lee

Chip Taylor meeting Albert Lee, with John Platania also present

Chip Taylor and Albert Lee chatting up the ladies

Kendel Carson blending with the crowd after the show

My brand new CD, autographed by Chip Taylor