One of the first things Gillian Welch had to deal with when she moved to Nashville four years ago was the man in the bubble suit. She had rented an apartment overlooking an ancient magnolia tree, but not even the magnolia could obscure the enormous 30-by-12-foot mural that covered her wall. It depicted what looked like an astronaut floating in space—and it had to go. Between the July heat, the fumes from repainting, and the lack of air-conditioning, a less hardy soul would’ve fled back to Boston.
Instead, Welch opted for real punishment. She started playing writers’ nights. There was the one near Hickory Hollow where the club manager told her she looked like a bag lady. There was the one where the manager bumped her 9 p.m. slot all the way to the end of the night, leaving only her, the manager and the bartender in the club. The manager just told her to cut off the PA and unplug when she was done—and then he left. She played, unplugged and did the same.
In this case, however, an uncommon talent wasn’t consigned to obscurity. In the years since, Welch and partner David Rawlings have become a popular club draw in Nashville, opening shows for Raul Malo at the Bluebird, headlining a recent Americana night at the Sutler, and performing in various local benefits and writers-in-the-round evenings. Their following should only increase with the release of Revival, their debut CD on Almo Music, which will be distributed by Geffen in April.
Half of the songs on Revival feature Welch and Rawlings alone, accompanying themselves on guitar. On other tracks, the duo is backed by stellar groups of L.A. and Nashville session vets, including guitar virtuoso James Burton, bassist Roy Huskey Jr., and drummers Jim Keltner and Buddy Harmon. Iodine’s Jay Joyce sits in on a gorgeous ballad called “Paper Wings,” which Welch describes admiringly as “Patsy Cline on heroin.” The record was produced by noted artist/producer T Bone Burnett, whose credits include Elvis Costello and Los Lobos.
“He really puts you at ease,” says Welch, who was introduced to Burnett backstage at the Station Inn one night. On the spot, Burnett told Welch and Rawlings he’d love to produce a record for them. “We talked to a bunch of other producers, and they all had some idea in mind for our first record. He’s just very good at looking at tunes and saying, ‘This is the core of what you do.’ He has a reputation for first records.”
This Wednesday, March 6, Welch and Rawlings will return to the Station Inn, where they played a well-received Extravaganza show with Peter Rowan, Jerry Douglas, and Tim and Mollie O’Brien. It’s a performance you shouldn’t miss. Welch’s wry, self-deprecating stage presence is a charming counterpoint to the stark beauty of her songs, and Rawlings dashes off supple, sparkling leads with offhand aplomb. (He’s also a lot of fun to watch: When the Sutler audience cheered a particularly nifty solo, Rawlings grinned like a bashful Little Leaguer who made a winning catch.)
In addition to “Paper Wings,” you may hear Welch’s “Orphan Girl,” a timeless spiritual that Emmylou Harris covered on her Wrecking Ball LP last year. “[The song] was hard to sing for a few weeks after I heard her version,” Welch says. Show up at the Station Inn 9 p.m. Wednesday night, and you can compare for yourself.
Too many practitioners of contemporary bluegrass trade emotional conviction for a hot-licks formalism that leaves even aficionados cold. Not Kathy Chiavola. Her new self-produced album, The Harvest (My Label), is as passionate as it is virtuosic. Joined by a stunning cast of pickers and singers—Bill Monroe, Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck and others—Chiavola assays everything from vintage bluegrass to her own originals and those of Peter Rowan and John Hiatt.
The record swings plenty, thanks to Chiavola’s core lineup, which includes Brent Truitt on mandolin, Mark Schatz or Roy Huskey Jr. on bass, and Randy Howard on fiddle. But it’s Chiavola’s creative direction and her rich, honeyed vocals—sometimes bluesy, always soulful—that give the record its intimate back-porch feel. More than just a terrific album, The Harvest is testimony to Chiavola’s musical vision and to the esteem of her friends and peers.
Many of the people who appear on the record—including Bill Monroe—will help Chiavola celebrate its release 9 p.m. Friday at the Station Inn. (They’ll also be partying in honor of her newly inked European licensing deal with Elvis Costello’s Demon label.) The event promises to be an acoustic-music summit of the highest order—an all-star tribute to Chiavola’s artistic commitment and reach.
Elliptical dispatches: All hail Stone Deep, the hard-funk rap-metal band, which is currently riding the month of its life. Not only did the band pick up a Nashville Music Award last week as Nashville’s best unsigned act, the group slugged its way to the National Grammy Showcase this week in L.A., where it’ll perform with three other bands selected from approximately 3,500 acts across the country. For its inclusion in the showcase, sponsored by the NARAS Foundation, Stone Deep will receive a trip to the Grammy Awards, a demo deal with Atlantic Records, and a slot on a CD featuring the showcase bands. They’re bad, they’re nationwide....
Grammy-nominated folksinger Greg Brown, whose song “One Cool Remove” was one of the highlights of Shawn Colvin’s recent Cover Girl LP, will headline the Sutler’s weekly Americana show Wednesday, March 6. Brown has just released a new Red House Records album, The Live One, which includes a 13-minute narrative entitled “Canned Goods” and a cover of Richard Thompson’s “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.”
Comments (0)