Pedal Gear Solid

On Tuesday, I stopped off at The Dakota for some folk/country. Unfortunately, there were some late starts, even for a weekday. So I ended up only staying for Terra Lightfoot, a singer who has lived in both Toronto and Hamilton. As such, her friends in the crowd was a mixture from both cities. It was the CD release of her sophomore album.

Lightfoot loved her guitars: there were 4 electric and 1 acoustic loaded up on stage. But starting off in the folk/country vein on songs like All Alone and No Hurry, she didn't indulge in much pyrotechnics. It was all about rhythm from chords, with some riffs thrown in for atmosphere. Her songs included her experiences in both cities with some delicate finger work on NFB (National Film Board). She was quite a tall and imposing figure on stage. So when she finally let her freak flag fly on her "soul song" Home to You and two powerful and heavy covers: Running on Empty (Jackson Browne) and Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (Nirvana), you feared that she might knock out her other band members. Her repertoire does include some rock songs but given her performance on those covers, there might by a metal/blues goddess inside her waiting to take over.