Back to Day 1
I started off my musical day by heading to the acoustic tent, hosted by M.C. John Fischer of Lonely Planet Records.
Jeff Elbel & Ping (4.4) had an alt.country feel. Lyrically, Jeff gave us a lot of concept songs, with the main theme of moving to new places and missing the folks back home.
An excellent female vocal accompanist backed Jeff’s strong voice with perfect harmonies--I wish I knew her name. Also, the band featured guest musicians Dan Michael on bari sax and ? (name) of Stavesacre on drums.
My favorite songs of the performance were “Here comes the Sunburn” (a blues-influenced song), “Back into the cage” (a pop song with good structure and a light-hearted, catchy melody), and “Miracle Rain” (the best song of the performance).
Poor Claires of Uptown (4.6) - I had been looking forward to hearing these two ladies sing again, as last year’s show was quite memorable.
If you’re not familiar with them, the Poor Claires are two excellent singers with some of the sweetest blue-grass harmonies this side of the Appalachia. The instrumentation is simple: a banjo, a fiddle, and Scott from Seeds on various percussion instruments.
My favorite songs were “Scarlet Letter” (with the chorus taken from the old-time gospel hymn--“There is pow’r, there is pow’r, in the precious blood of the lamb”), “Orphan Girl” (a moving and heartfelt cover of the old Gillian Welch song), “Softly and Tenderly” (a passionate arrangement of the old hymn--the fiddle sounds great on this one!), and “Leaving You” (a good hand-clapping, foot-stomping song).
I also should mention “Foul Weather Friend,” which the Poor Claires said they wrote last week. I hope they include this one if they record a full-length album.
Kate Campbell (4.8) started off by telling a bit of her story growing up as a Southern Baptist preacher’s kid in Sledge, Mississippi (a small town in the kudzu-covered country south of Memphis). From there, she wove her stories and songs together like a handmade quilt.
Kate’s songs are rich and vibrant with colorful lyrics that tell interesting stories. Good examples of her fine story songs included “Zero City” (a song about leaving town) and “There’s always room at the Jerusalem Inn.”
I also really liked the last song she did, though I didn’t catch the title of it. Campbell told us the song was inspired by Mark 14:26, a verse that describes how Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn together before going to Gethsemane to pray. In my mind, I could almost picture the small band singing this song on that fateful night. [www.katecampbell.com]
After Kate finished singing, I got to talk to the Poor Claires of Uptown (check back later for the interview at www.exitzine.com).
Green Choby (5.0) (pronounced “Ko-bee”) is comprised of Carolyn Green and Mike Choby, who sing and play guitar and bass, respectively. While they are not siblings, they harmonized well enough to be mistaken for it. Carolyn definitely deserves to be on the radio. Her voice is so awesome, and reminds me a lot of Jennifer Knapp or maybe Sarah McLachlan. Better still, her guitar playing is stellar.
But Carolyn is not the only talented member of the group. Mike adds his own unique use of bass and guitar to their sound. He plays bass with the finesse and speed of a guitar, giving it the coolest jazz overtones. Next to Orlando of Havalina, this guy is one of the best bassists I have heard to date.
Later on, Mike switches to guitar. Though I think he works best on bass, he smokes on the guitar, as well. Towards the end of the show, GC move more into a jam band feel, very reminiscent of Phish. The last song in particular was a glorious jam time. I am so looking forward to seeing these folks again.
Overall, the vocals, the mood, and the vibe of this band are so smooth. I can’t explain it, but Green Choby touches a hungry place in my heart. At this point, I’m becoming convinced that any band with the word “Green” in its name is going to be good (I.E. this band and Madison Greene). Green Choby certainly lives up to my verdant hypothesis. [www.greenchoby.com]
The rest of my day ended early, since a rash of power outages plagued the farm. (The only bad thing about having the festival on the beautiful Cornerstone Farm is the power problems that can occur when a storm comes through. There are only so many power lines going to Bushnell, IL.)
Later in the early evening, I took a gamble on the weather and headed to Main Stage to hear Waterdeep, but the power went out for them, too. The break in activity made for a good time to catch some sleep and was actually welcomed by the many underground bands that had been clever enough to bring their own generators to play for those passing by.
Go to Day 3
Seeking Truth Now is (c)2002 Daniel M. Branum. Comments: seekingtruthnow@yahoo.com.
(c)1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Exitzine.com, PO Box 202, Newcastle, OK 73065-0202. All Rights Reserved. Questions? Contact jmb@exitzine.com
