Four Chords And The Truth

On Wednesday, I headed over to The Burdock for the 1st night of their acoustic festival. There was some snow on the ground but the snowstorm was delayed. It was a full show with 8 singers on the bill but I only stayed for four. For whatever reason, all of them had a song that mused on both the fear and thrill of having only a finite time to live in this world.

Jason Anderson started with a long, discursive ode called El Paso. This song, along with a new number about a Midwest road trip through Climax, Michigan, were my favourite with their folk-pop and storytelling lyricism. I wanted him to move away from a reliance on end-rhymes. And I'm not as enamoured of his occasional foray into "white man screaming" mode.

This was my first encounter with Jessica Stuart's new koto that she brought back from Japan. It was a beauty. She did a few songs from her Jessica Stuart Few days. I was taken with the new Borrowed Time which found a great balance between some evocative koto playing and her richer, more resonant middle register. Stuart ended with a mash-up cover of Here Comes The Rain/Sunglasses at Night.

I haven't heard Sarah Cripps play in almost 2 years. She also admitted that she hasn't played live for quite some time. So we got some extra-sad rendition (courtesy of the "February blues") of songs from her last album: Charcoal Heart, Bones, and Leave Behind. There was still some propulsiveness to her playing but I miss that gothic meets yee-haw country vibe. Cripps also closed with a cover: Gillian Welch's "middle-finger-to-state-of-music-industry" Everything Is Free. I hope that's not why she hasn't been active lately.

Sabine Ndalamba was a revelation. Songs like Home, Just Because, and Already combined deft finger or flat picking, interesting chords and transitions, and a beautiful vocal range. An oldie The Rain Has Come showed how much she has progressed as a singer/songwriter. This young artist deserves to be more widely known.

As I left the venue, the storm had arrived with blinding sleet of snow coming down on empty streets. I might not have left my place if it came early. But I was glad I saw this fine show tonight.