Girls' Best Friend

I headed down to the Horseshoe Tavern Saturday night for some country music. First up was Old Salts, whose outfits complete with fedoras or newsboy cap were so Lumineers or Mumford & Sons old-timey it made my teeth hurt. Did I mention there were rough-hewn acoustic guitars and a banjo?

In any case, their music was not surprisingly in the same vein: long stories with sing-along choruses, a gruff vocal, and furious banjo solos. Their music mined a currently crowded field but was enjoyable. I liked the overlay of higher, drawn-out harmonies over the roughened main vocal.

It was the official album release for the all-female country band Ladies of the Canyon. I caught them a few times at their Dakota residency, and was excited about their set. Boldly, it consisted of every song from the new Diamond Heart though there were requests for some old favourites during the crowd's call for an encore. But with mostly excellent tunes, showcasing all new material didn't hurt them. Maia Davis started the first couple of songs (She Crossed The River, Black Water, You and all your famous friends.) They matched her muscular, riffy, blues-rock guitar playing and got the crowd immediately into it. Main vocals for the middle set was mostly Jasmine Bleile, on softer country like Dear John and Let's Take The Night. Anna Ruddick sometimes moved to the front on funky bass lines. She got that bass face down cold. All the ladies sang vocals including drummer Tara Martin. Their harmonies were gorgeous, grabbing your attention when they cold opened their set with She Crossed The River; and at the end, for a stripped down acoustic encore of People Of The Sun, which had hints of Native American tribal chants and rhythm.