Saturday, March 27, 2010

First Ladies of Folk

Just settled into a seat at the Cedar for a show featuring two of the first ladies of folk--Lucy Kaplansky and Catie Curtis. Nice warm vibe in this very full room.

Catie's set:
- World Don't Owe Me (nice opener)
- Sweet Life
- Lovely
- Google Me (hilarious and dirty modern ditty)
- Magnolia Street
(Nice banter comparing her week to President Obama's)
- Are You Ready to Fly?
- My Dad's Yard
- Coulda Shoulda (hilarious song about being guilty about not being more environmentally conscious)
- People Look Around (doing some looping to get an extra guitar part--love this song and this was a good rendition)
- Six Degrees
- Be Sixteen With Me
- Troubled Mind (w/Lucy on harmonies)
- Happy (really nice, also with Lucy)

Lucy's set:
- God Will (great cover of the Lyle Lovett song)
- Written on the Back of His Hand
- Mother's Day (new song)
- Life Threads (banter about turning 50)
- Manhattan Moon
- Hallelujah (on piano--one of the best versions I have heard of this Leonard Cohen classic; definitely the best female version)
- No More (written for her 87 year-old mother, also done on piano)
- Ten Year Night (w/Catie on guitar and vocals)
- Scorpion (w/Catie on harmonies--really great)
- Guinevere (by request)
- Thunder Road

Encore:
- Walking on a Wire (yes, the Richard & Linda Thompson song)
- Let It Be (yes, The Beatles song--this cover was really special. Lucy played the piano, Catie played the guitar, they shared the verses and sang pretty amazing harmonies)

This combo of artists was a real special treat. They complemented each other so well, it would nice if they did a full-blown tour together. This was just one of 3 dates together in the Upper Midwest. Glad I caught one of them, but I'm sure fans would be happy to see this tour hit other parts of the country!

3 comments:

Matt Winters said...

"Walking on a Wire"!!! Wow! I would have loved to have heard that (and all the rest of the concert, too). Looks like a great one.

Ellen Stanley said...

Catie actually recorded "Walking on a Wire" on her latest string band album Hello Stranger...this live version with Lucy, though, was special.

Matt Winters said...

Now I sort of feel like I've heard the album version... Not sure if I'm inventing that memory or not.

Was sad to discover last night that I have 0 versions of the song on my iPod. Listened to "Wall of Death," "Beat the Retreat" and "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" instead. (And Jack Hardy's "Ladies of Cork" if you want the complete playlist. Oh, wait, and then Shindell's "Fleur de Lis.")