Artist:Sam Baker + Madison Violet
Venue:The Cluny2
Town:Newcastle
Date:10/09/09
Website:http://www.sambakermusic.com/
Having seen Madison Violet (aka Madviolet) open for Wine, Women and Song a couple of years ago, I was excited that they were to open for Sam Baker and looking forward to hearing their new material.
Brenley MacEachern, from Cape Breton and Lisa MacIsaac from Toronto, met almost ten years ago and have been writing and performing together ever since; obvious to watch them play together. Alternating lead vocals and stunning harmonies which could rival those of The Judds, Brenley played guitar whilst Lisa switched between guitar and violin, making each look as easy as the last.
The audience were smitten from the start, as the pair exchanged light hearted banter and jokes with each other and the audience, perhaps the best being Brenley’s story about finding a chocolate melted in her boot! They opened the set talking about life on the road, which led into The Ransom A story about Prohibition and alcohol took us to Best Part of My Love, followed by the wonderful country sounding title track from their new CD, No Fool for Trying.
The audience were encouraged to participate with the ‘oo oo’s’ in “boy and girl parts” during The Small Of My Heart, which went down well with the crowd.
Other highlights for me , came in the form of the heartbreaking The Woodshop, about Brenley’s brother and the bluegrass classic, Cindy Cindy, which showed a whole other side to their vocal and musical talent.
They closed the set with Crying, another beautiful song about Brenley’s brother, and all too soon it was time for the break. No matter though, as I for one am certain that very soon they will be the ones booking the support acts, a view which I hope, should there be anyone still making up their minds, won’t Worry the Jury!
The introduction to the main act stated that Sam baker was one of the most talked about performances and requested returns in the history of the Jumpin’ Hot Club; this certainly seemed to be true, judging from the applause as he took to the stage, reminding me somewhat of fellow Texan Jimmie Dale Gilmore, with his long wavy hair.
Immediately making a joke that the guitars weren’t working, he started talking about the concept of Geordie and Geordie language, such as ‘hacky’, trying to fake the accent and debating the various names for Newcastle Brown Ale – who knew it was called ‘The Dog’ – before cracking the top and shouting ‘Cheers everyone.’ This demonstrated he has a great sense of humour and could perhaps have a career in standup should he get tired of music!
Jokes and banter seemed to be the mainstay of this gig, as he told story after story, eventually decideing he needed to be quiet so he could sing more songs, before launching into another story, to the good humoured groans of people in the room. The fascinating thing is that his personality, juxtaposed with his lyrics, often seems to not quite match, or at least not be quite what you would expect the first time you see him live. The beauty of this is that he immediately, and effortlessly, created not just a rapport, but a connection, with his audience.
Sam Baker is a storyteller above all else and Palestine I and II, Mennonite, Not Another Mary and Pretty World, came back to back; the simplicity of the backing making his half sung, half spoken lyrics even more striking, drawing you into his stories, his songs and his world. The more I heard, the more he reminded me of another Texas singer songwriter, Mary Gauthier, both lyrically and vocally. Just listen to Gauthier’s I Drink and you’ll hear the commonality.
Calling Madison Violet back on stage to join him for Orphan, he had them sing the ‘swing low sweet chariot part.’ Afterwards Sam very accurately described them as ‘angel voices.’ Dixie and Cotton from the new CD, followed, then Edmonton which he stated he doesn’t play very often but it wouldn’t stop him. He then moved onto his very poignant take of the Woody Guthrie song, Deportees. Having not heard the story behind this song before, I was genuinely moved and had to, much like Sam, question how far we’ve really come since then, in terms of people’s attitudes. The final line, ‘Estamos perdido’ or ‘We are lost,’ sums it all up, really. The fiddle followed the ebb and flow of Sam’s lyrics, another gentle reminder that every song is, in some way, representative of a moment in someone’s life.
Never was this more evident than when the room fell silent as Sam told the story of the day on a train in Peru – the moment he ‘got caught up in someone else’s war.’ A bomb exploded on board, killing several people, including the three members of a family sat with him, one just a young boy. Sam escaped with his life but was severely injured. He joked that one of the effects was that for a long time he struggled to find words, so he makes up for it now. As he led from the story into Broken Fingers, inspired by those experiences, I noticed that he plays his guitar left handed, despite being right handed; another legacy of that day. Two things struck me during this song; one how he can demonstrate so little bitterness about his experiences, and the second, that listening to him, the reason he survived was right there on the stage in front of us. There but for the grace of God......
My request came in the form of Signs, inspired by the homeless people of Austin who inhabit street corners, holding cardboard signs. In fact, one such sign, held upside down, inspired three separate lines in the song. It is incredible how in just three verses, a picture is painted in words of these people, and those in any town, in a way which makes you look beyond their circumstances to see that many would get out of it if they could; If I had a horse, I would ride to higher ground,’ Quite simply, it is Poetry set to music.
The end of the night came in the form of Get Home Safe, which seemed a perfect choice as we would wish that for him as much as he would us.
By the time it was all over, the ‘signs’ were that everyone present felt they had spent their ‘Thursday’ evening in the presence of someone truly unique and impressive in more ways than one. Aswell as the music, he had given us all a welcome reminder that whilst bad things happen there is still good all around us and if we look we will see that it is indeed a ‘Pretty World,’ not least when we get to share live music like we just had.
Helen Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment