Lambada

Sunday night, I headed over to The Horseshoe Tavern to check out some American musicians thanks to higher capacity at venues. I was disappointed to find out that Renata Zeiguer did not cross the border probably due to some last-minute snafu. She was the main reason I got a ticket. Winston Triolo, touring bassist of the main band, was a last-minute substitute.

But he had enough solo material as well as a new single (Wise) from his New Orleans band Motel Radio to fill out a set. It was interesting that Triolo only had one love/break-up song. He felt more like a folk-singer in the pop genre as he sang about Louisiana (Grand Isle), Lewis Falls near his new home of Portland (Deja Vu), or a good friend (Turn Me Around).

Kate Stephenson also only had 2 nominally romantic songs (Second Option, Exless) and the latter was about never having dated. Otherwise, it was about being a woman in a misogynistic society (For the Daughter I'll Never Have), working in a sexist music industry (Your World), or disappointing her younger self (Please Don't Say You Love Me). Some of the younger men rolled their eyes but the majority female audience loved her honesty.

Summer Salt is a duo from Austin that came on stage as a 5-member touring band. They got big cheers but I was surprised that more than half of the audience was seeing them for the first time even though most seem to know all their music. I wonder what got them on people's radars? Certainly, playing dreamy, shimmering, beach vibe songs (very "Girls") about love will hook listeners. It was sweet music (appropriate for their Soft Serve Tour) on numbers including Give My Heart A Little Break, Trouble In Paradise, and Sweet To Me, but on the right side of saccharine. Summer Salt got the audience swaying and swooning with lyrics like "alone again on Valentine" (One Last Time). But even the older folks in the back were feeling it and raising their hands on Revvin' My CJ7 ("I'm so damn tired/From working overtime/Two kids and a wife/My Miss American pie". Finally, another point for representation matters because without a doubt the young Asian twenty-somethings were there because of songwriter/drummer Eugene Chung.