This one was an absolute surprise.
Sara Watkins was one third of the 'newgrass' group Nickle Creek, a group I never really got at all. I had many friends who tried to turn me on to them, but they just seemed to corny to me.
But two summer ago my lovely wife and I went to see the Prairie Home Companion "Summer Love" tour and she was the musical guest on the tour.
She slayed it. With the Guys All Star Shoe band backing her up she had the crowd in her hand from the first note she sang.
She had been a side performer in Nickle Creek, but given the chance to step up to the microphone she shined.
"Lord Won't You Help Me" sounds like a classic, 19th century Appalachian tune that has been sung for 100 years in the mountains of West Virgina, though it was a new composition. "Pony" is a fantastic Tom Waits cover (she and Garrison Keillor sang Wait's "Ever Since I Put Your Picture In A Fame" at the show) and "Where Would You Be" closes the album in a haunting fashion, using A Capella singing and a echos (maybe from an old church in a valley somewhere) to awesome effect.
This one will remind me of that great summer night when it was just me and my baby on the lawn at a concert with good music in the air. I look forward to her next album.
4.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment