Wednesday, June 24, 2009

WILL TAYLOR & STRINGS ATTACHED featuring KAREN MAL and BETTYSOO at a House Concert 6-21-09

My first house concert and I was excited about this! Seems to me you can't get any more intimate than that so when this show was announced, I jumped at the chance.
Will Taylor takes great music and writes arrangements for them that support the playing of violins, cellos, wind and brass instruments along with your guitars, piano and drums. Some things turn classical, jazzy, a little of both, straight up, you never know. At least that's how I see it. I have seen 3 shows previous to this one. The first one I ever went to was held in a church downtown and it was the music of Led Zeppelin! Blew my mind. He brings in guest vocalists, also. That was the first time I ever heard Wendy Colona, I remember that. I also remember it opened with this guy walking up the church aisle with a guitar singing "Goin' to California." What a night! I've also heard them do The Beatles "Sergeant Pepper" album and the songs of Joni Mitchell with some terrific singers such as Suzanna Choffel, among many others.
So this show was taking the songs of some of Austin's own: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson and Jimmy LaFave. Guest vocalists were Karen Mal and BettySoo. You had Will on violin or viola, Shawn Sanders on cello, Karen acoustic guitar, mandolin and vocals along with BettySoo on guitar and vocals.
It was much fun to hear these songs with no mics, just sitting in a living room 4 feet from the musicians. Sadly, the turnout was light. I was dismayed about it because it's such a cool thing. My only hope is that it was Fathers Day and that was the reason for the poor attendance. There were maybe 10 people. What a treat for us though. They did 2 sets, each lasting about an hour.
My first time hearing Karen Mal. Love her voice. Look forward to hearing more of her.
Admission was $15. A bargain.

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