It’s Alive: Hotel Café Tour

Exit/In – 10/21/2008

With a lineup boasting Katie Herzig, Erin McCarley, Garrison Starr, Meiko, Priscilla Ahn and Ingrid Michaelson, the Nashville leg of the Hotel Café Fall Tour came out of the gate sounding like a sure winner. Even with these names, the evening did not live up to its promise.

First, there was a resounding call in the audience to take a contract out on the most annoying MC I have ever encountered. At one point during the evening, Garrison Starr looked as if she was ready to slam him head first into the concrete Exit/In flooring. He was an obnoxious deterrent to the talent on the stage and yes, sadly set the platform for what was to come.

Secondly, the concert, scheduled for 8pm finally began a little after 9:30pm. The late start coupled with the duration of the show led some fans to become frustrated when they realized that they would not be able to stay around until the end. As a matter of fact, my friend and I left a little after mid-night and the show was still rolling on with noticeably much less in attendance than at the beginning of the evening. But this did not hurt the house since they already got paid…right

Meiko, a new name to me, led off the night and seemed to have quite a few followers in the audience. Sadly, her songs were filled with predicable rhyme sequences and her presentation brought nothing new or really memorable…well, until the end when she performed a song ‘backhandedly’ dedicated to the stalker like girlfriend of one of her male friends.

Another new name, Priscilla Ahn was fun, likable, and interesting. Her banter was engaging and full of humor. During the evening, Ahn introduced the Kazoo as a valid pop accompanying instrument and made it sound good! She is an artist I will be take time to learn more about.

Standout performances of the night were Ingrid Michaelson, Katie Herzig, and Erin McCarly but over all, the Hotel Café festivities at Exit/In was in reality more like a yawn fest. It felt long, unbalanced and very disconnected; too bad because there was so much hope for the money.

Peace,

zss

© 2008 Wrosesongs

All Rights Reserved

It’s Alive: Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile

Grimey’s 10/19/2008

What a beautiful marriage Sunday afternoon was as Grimey’s hosted Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile for an in-store performance of their hard to define collaboration.

Touring in support of their new self-titled cd, the Double Bass Master and Mandolin Virtuoso have found new ways to meld their jaw dropping talents into an accessible package that they have allowed us mere mortals to peek into.

Drawing from bluegrass, folk, country and classical music for their instrumental offerings, these two musicians have a stage dialogue that sets them apart from the majority of players on the circuit today. They move effortlessly from genre to genre and have fun infusing a bit of improvisation into their compositions.

Previously, Edgar Meyer has collaborated with musicians such as Bela Fleck, Yo-Yo Ma, Sam Bush, and Mark O’Conner. Chris Thile, on the other hand, is best known for his work with the critically acclaimed Bluegrass influenced band, Nickle Creek.

I would not have imaged these players on stage together with these instruments…but it makes sense. They work well together and the respect that they have for one another illuminated the small Grimey’s playing area.

It was fun seeing Meyer and Thile play in a musician’s town. I watched many in the filled to capacity room finger their own air instruments to accompany what was going on in front of them. I heard gasp when difficult runs were completed with ease. I sensed a respect and joy not only from the stage, but also from those surrounding the performance area.

It’s nice being in a city that brings greatness to the masses.

Peace,
zss

© 2008 Wrosesongs
All Rights Reserved