Photos by Ana Gibert
Off and running in pursuit of both known talent and performers we haven’t yet visited, we started with John Wort Hannam, based on the one song we’d heard in his performance in the round the night before. Confirming our assessment, Hannam’s rich, reassuring vocals gently drew us in to tales of his childhood and adulthood, told straightforwardly and without apology. Though solid and calming in demeanor, Hannam’s sense of humor had the crowd laughing out loud throughout his performance, including his introduction to the last song, “I Believe,” when he told us, “Thank you for coming. I know you have lots of choices when you fly.” At Folk Alliance, lots of choices is one of the greatest challenges, and we made the right one in Hannam.
On to Birds of Chicago, where the room was packed to overflowing before they began, and—since no one left—even more crowded when they received their well-deserved standing ovation. In between, the duo. Passionate and intuitive, the duo play off one another perfectly in their timeless songs, and this night were joined by producer, guitarist and artist in his own right, Steve Dawson.
We’ve seen Trace Bundy before, but needed another shot of his magic tricks with a MIDI machine. Although he explains everything he’s about to do and gives little soundbite examples before he begins each song, it’s still tough to grasp how this man makes this magic with interlocking rhythms and under-and-overdubs. Using his guitar body as a percussion instrument, gently slapping the strings as well as picking long sequences entirely on the neck alone, even if the sound were turned off, viewers would know something entirely singular was happening before them. Bundy often employs multiple capos at the same time—some with holes drilled in them to un-capo (if that’s a word) one string of the six, and on “Love Song,” for example, moves the capos around every few bars at lightning speed. Not only does Trace Bundy a solo performance into an all-guitar orchestra, he gives the term “Guitar Geek” entirely new meaning.
Championed by Elmore’s good friend and world-famous photographer Henry Diltz, the Rainbow Girls turn political incorrectness into pollical correctness and vice-versa. Opening with the observation that “You can say ‘shit’ but you can’t say ‘cunt’,” one of the Girls adds, “Fuck no!” By the end of that little discourse, the threesome had the entire packed crowd shouting “Cunt!” and laughing. It wasn’t the last time we all laughed by a long shot, but the Rainbow Girls aren’t just about comedy. Their gentle rendition of Les Paul and Mary Ford’s “Smoke Rings” has us rapt, as did the slow harmony of “Meet You At the Gate,” about deathbed reparations. Lest that sound too glum, however, humor did play a huge part, including one song about hate (and this goes back to turning correctness on its head), an hysterical, lengthy catalog which went roughly “I love you like I love airport security, I love you like I love used car dealerships…” These gals make today’s grim headlines bearable and put the “fun” back in “fundamentals.”
Old favorites Hat Fitz and Cara were deservedly front and center in a big room, to a packed house. With the richest voice since Barry White, Aussie Hat Fitz also wields a mean resonator, his hands a blur at times. An Aussie by choice and marriage, Cara’s soulful wail could be straight out of Memphis or Detroit rather than her native Dublin. During this set, Cara shifted from drums to washboard-with-cowbells to pennywhistle, and danced joyfully through the audience. Always entertaining, Hat Fitz and Cara bring humor and love to everything they do and succeed in sharing both with their audiences.
We caught a couple tunes from Mark Edgar Stuart, a new treat for us. Literate and intelligent, his “Miss America” lamented “I’ll never make enough for a girl like you,” while making us realize that it’s Miss America’s loss. “Color Wheel” focused on his hometown of Memphis, using it as an example of an issue that blights the rest of our nation as well: “I live in a place that is red, white, black and blue, and you do, too.” Good stuff.
Grain Thief has super harmonies and good chops, but the song that really got our attention was a lovely instrumental, “Zoe,” about a dog. Go figure.
Young brother and sister act the Watkin Family Hour have been performing together for 17 years, and it shows. With Sara on violin and Sean on guitar, their slightly dissonant vocal harmonies are without equal. Songs of loneliness and hope—however slim—prevail, like “I’m a Memory,” and lyrics such as “You can have your day and throw your tantrums, but the truth will be waiting.” Unlike their other gig as members of the forceful Nickle Creek, delicacy is the order of the day with the Watkins Family Hour, and their gentle vocals blend perfectly 100% of the time, neither sibling outsinging the other. Sean finished off one tender instrumental by softly humming along to Sara’s violin, his gentle falsetto sounding more like another instrument than a human voice. Here’s to family values!
—Suzanne Cadgène
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