Our first musical stop our Musical Mystery Tour was at a small festival in an exclusive ski resort development off the Vail Valley - The Rendezvous Music Festival at Beaver Creek. We had one main reason for being there and that was to see Jason Isbell former Drive By Trucker and possibly the greatest songwriter around at the moment. When planning the itinerary for the trip I asked Jan what was one thing she wanted to do and it was emphatically - see Jason Isbell.
It was a magnificent setting splashed with Autumn colours in a natural staged location. The music had a decidedly americana feel and the crowd was very very small allowing easy access to the front of the stage and the ability to talk to many of the musicians as they came back into the crowd to enjoy each others' music.
First up was Kylie Rae Harris - early in the afternoon sun singing a country soul filled set. It was a pleasant set with a couple of standout songs that was about right to kick things off.
She was followed by Langhorn Slim, again solo with guitar and slightly strangulated vocals and lots of words in his songs. He was an engaging performer and he reminded me of an old favourite, Phil Cody.A good set that encouraged me to buy his CD (which unfortunately did not reflect the set or his personality that well). I think this clip of him singing with his Mom demonstrates the personality that comes out on stage. It was nice when we bumped into Mr Slim at the Airport in the security queue as we left Denver to go to New Orleans.
Paper Bird was a local Denver band that impressed with the three part female harmonies on stage, stories of drinking Kava the night before (really). Unfortunately the energy on stage did not seem to translate to either of their records.
An early highlight though Wade Bowen with his brand of Texas Country. Apparently he is very successful in Texas but not far beyond. Sad, as songs like Walking Along The Fenceline are as good as any in the genre. He and his band played a great set and I had a good chat to them afterwards while waiting for the next band to start.
Dawes were one of the "big" names at the festival and while I have had their Nothing is Wrong CD for a couple of years it had never really captured my imagination. Even having it in the car for two weeks before we left had
not worked in terms of firing up my interest. Whether it was a case of low expectations being exceeded or not I am not sure, but I enjoyed their set - again much more energy live and the vocals came across as less whiny than their CD.
The highlights of the day however were undoubtedly Jason Isbell who played the last of the outdoor sets and Patty Griffin who played the final show for the night as we sat in the Orchestra Pit of a small auditorium.
Jason played an hour set of almost all his best songs and I managed to get right to the front. While there was no jostling or pushing needed to get to the front. He is already gathering a rabid following with everyone at the front knowing every word and talking to some it was the 4th or 5th time they had seen him this year. About three days before the show Isbell had cleaned up at the Americana Music Awards with best artist, best album and best song, so it was good to see someone at what is clearly an artistic peak - lets hope there are many more.
Coincidentally Patty Griffin had been a contender at the same awards with her latest album. At the awards show she had played her nominated song Ohio with her old partner Robert Plant. I had known of Patty Griffin since before her collaboration with Plant on his Band of Joy album and accompanying tour having had her terrific 1000 Kisses album. We were priviliged to see Patty that night from the front row of a small theatre surrounded by many of the musicians that had played during the day. But not Jason much to Jan's disappointment.
It was a magnificent setting splashed with Autumn colours in a natural staged location. The music had a decidedly americana feel and the crowd was very very small allowing easy access to the front of the stage and the ability to talk to many of the musicians as they came back into the crowd to enjoy each others' music.
First up was Kylie Rae Harris - early in the afternoon sun singing a country soul filled set. It was a pleasant set with a couple of standout songs that was about right to kick things off. She was followed by Langhorn Slim, again solo with guitar and slightly strangulated vocals and lots of words in his songs. He was an engaging performer and he reminded me of an old favourite, Phil Cody.A good set that encouraged me to buy his CD (which unfortunately did not reflect the set or his personality that well). I think this clip of him singing with his Mom demonstrates the personality that comes out on stage. It was nice when we bumped into Mr Slim at the Airport in the security queue as we left Denver to go to New Orleans.
Paper Bird was a local Denver band that impressed with the three part female harmonies on stage, stories of drinking Kava the night before (really). Unfortunately the energy on stage did not seem to translate to either of their records.
An early highlight though Wade Bowen with his brand of Texas Country. Apparently he is very successful in Texas but not far beyond. Sad, as songs like Walking Along The Fenceline are as good as any in the genre. He and his band played a great set and I had a good chat to them afterwards while waiting for the next band to start.
not worked in terms of firing up my interest. Whether it was a case of low expectations being exceeded or not I am not sure, but I enjoyed their set - again much more energy live and the vocals came across as less whiny than their CD.
The highlights of the day however were undoubtedly Jason Isbell who played the last of the outdoor sets and Patty Griffin who played the final show for the night as we sat in the Orchestra Pit of a small auditorium.
Jason played an hour set of almost all his best songs and I managed to get right to the front. While there was no jostling or pushing needed to get to the front. He is already gathering a rabid following with everyone at the front knowing every word and talking to some it was the 4th or 5th time they had seen him this year. About three days before the show Isbell had cleaned up at the Americana Music Awards with best artist, best album and best song, so it was good to see someone at what is clearly an artistic peak - lets hope there are many more.
No comments:
Post a Comment