Got to see John Craigie and Sierra Hull yesterday. Excellent show. First time seeing either of them. Was there to see Sierra, but John was good too.
Was at the Birchmere, which is a great place, and a classic venue with a ton of history, but it’s a huge pain to get to logistically. I don’t think I’ve seen a concert there in well over 10 years, maybe 15. Nice show for getting back to it though.
For the second time this year, Jill Lorean. Last time was just her. This time was with her band, which includes Andy Monaghan from Frightened Rabbit. Fantastic show, again, in a tiny venue. She should be much bigger than she is. She’s great.
Went to see the always wonderful Kathryn Williams last night. Her latest album, Mystery Park, is just lovely, and so was the show. My photos, as usual, were not quite so lovely, but this one’s ok.
She said she has a day off today, and she’s off to see Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in Glasgow. Jealous…
I’ve been to a few gigs lately…
Did a double header in Dundee at the start of the month. First up was Brogeal, a blend of traditional Celtic folk and Indie. They were brilliant, and up there as one of my gigs of the year. Though I forgot my age for a while and did a bit too much bouncing towards the end. Did myself a bit of damage from which I have not yet recovered. Getting old, man…
The following night was Idlewild, supported by Jill Lorean. Third time seeing Jill Lorean this year, and she was great as always.
Idlewild were also very good. It was, hands down, the loudest gig I’ve ever been to. Like, dangerously loud. I couldn’t hear properly for two days afterwards, and was genuinely quite worried I’d permanently damaged my hearing. Fortunately, I hadn’t. Good gig though. I have now purchased little ear plug things…
Then I saw Hamish Hawk in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago. He’s a brilliant performer, with a great band behind him, and an increasingly impressive catalogue to draw from. It was, as expected, fantastic. The whole crowd singing along to Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion was quite a moment.
I went to Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC last night to catch Gillian Welch & David Rawlings on the fourth night of their current tour where they’re performing selections from the Grateful Dead’s live acoustic album, Reckoning as well as other material from the Dead’s live repertoire, all rendered acoustically. They were accompanied by Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers on standup bass. A snare drum was situated in front of Gillian with both her and Paul occasionally contributing percussion flourishes. This was night two of a two night stand at Haw River Ballroom.
Set I
Brown-Eyed Women
The Monkey and the Engineer
Oh Babe, It Ain’t No Lie
It Must Have Been the Roses
Bertha
Wharf Rat
Dire Wolf
Brokedown Palace
Casey Jones
Set II
Cold Rain and Snow
Sugaree
Loser
Deep Elem Blues
Bird Song>Stella Blue>Bird Song
Ripple
Encore
Cassidy>Uncle John’s Band>Cassidy
Althea
And We Bid You Goodnight
Wow, that sounds great.
It was. Also, a nod to the Grateful Dead’s roots in folk, bluegrass, and country music. Filmed in Nashville, TN a few days before I saw them.
Got to see Lissie at a little venue, had a seat right next to the stage. She was great and I love her. 
Went to a semi-private concert for my favorite band, Carbon Leaf. There’s a little lodge place up in the Blue Ridge mountains that looks like you can rent it for wedding receptions etc, but someone organized a small CL concert there; found out through word of mouth and got tickets (i.e. emailed the organizer and sent her money on Venmo) for myself and my wife. Beautiful setting and fun show.
Last night I went to see Big Thief. My first time seeing them and if I’m honest, my expectations weren’t particularly high. I didn’t love Double Infinity, the most recent album, and the set lists that I’ve seen from this tour had a lot of new unreleased stuff, and Adrienne Lenker solo songs that I’m not familiar with.
Well… they absolutely blew me away. I have some exciting gigs coming up this year, but they’ll be going some to beat this as my gig of the year.
They opened with Masterpiece, a perfect opener, and they just kept nailing it after that. Highlights for me were Shark Smile, Los Angeles, Vampire Empire, and the afore-mentioned Masterpiece. The new stuff sounded great. The band themselves were on fire. Make no mistake, they can play! It rocked. It felt like you were watching a band at the peak of their powers.
It was quite a young crowd, which surprised me a little. I was expecting more people who looked like me… But the youngsters were loving it, matching the energy that the band brought. (Though the incessant phone filming did my head in a little.)
I think Big Thief may well be the best band in the world right now.
A few weeks back I saw Great Lake Swimmers, in a tiny venue. Now that was a gig filled with people who look like me… And very good it was too.
I love Big Thief but haven’t seen them since they played a small club in Carrboro, NC when they were touring behind Masterpiece. On most days they’re also my current favorite band along with Ratboys and Florry.
The world lost Lynn Blakey back in February. This past weekend her life was celebrated in song at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. She had many ties to Athens, including her friends in R.E.M. She was also the inspiration behind “Left of the Dial” by the Replacements.
However, I would never want any of that to overshadow her contributions to music and humanity, which are many. Link to the memorial tribute concert below as well as a piece on her by author/music journalist David Menconi.
Last year was supposed to go see Alison Krauss and Union Station, but it got cancelled. Was rescheduled to yesterday. So, 100 degrees in July out on the lawn at Wolf Trap instead of mid September, but still a great show. Band sounded amazing of course.
Blurry pic, because, again, lawn seats.
A few weeks ago I saw Sierra Ferrell in Glasgow. Wow. It wasn’t just a gig, it was an event. She’s amazing.
The support act was the Brudi Brothers, and they were great. Old timey.
Sierra, and her band, were absolutely phenomenal. Sometimes you look forward to a gig so much that it can’t help but be a let down. This lived up to my expectations and then some.
She has a pretty great catalogue at this point, and she added to that with some brilliant covers and collabs. She brought the Brudi Bothers back out for a song, which was lovely. She also did a song she co-wrote with Glasgow-based folk band Talisk, who joined her for that. Also great. I loved her humility in these moments.
The main set finished with Fox Hunt, probably the song that most underlines the power of her voice, and her songwriting.
Me and Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson was performed, brilliantly, in the encore. Her voice, man…
Incredible gig.
Someone’s review of the show: Alison Krauss and Union Station saw on strings at Wolf Trap - The Music Universe
Their pictures are better than mine. 
My manager has her CDs under the counter at our Oxfam shop and I often put them on. Love her voice!
