Wednesday, October 28, 2009

NATALIA ZUKERMAN and TRINA HAMLIN at a House Concert 10-25-09

This was kind of a spur of the moment deal. Didn't know about it until the night before and didn't have any details (where/when) until the afternoon of the show. Turned out it was at a house in North Austin at 5pm. That worked for us so off we went.
A friend sent me Natalia's "Brand New Frame" a few months ago and I fell in complete love with it. It's one of those rare (seems to me, anyway) cds that is great all the way through.
While I didn't have any music by Trina, the same friend had been insisting that I check her out. She was always raving to me about her, as well as Natalia.
Needless to say, when this house concert fell into my lap, I was excited! And it did not disappoint. We had a great time!
First off, this house had a cool yard space for an outdoor concert. Nice big shade trees and just a really warm feel to the place.
They did a song swap, 2 sets. Often, when Natalia was playing a song, Trina would chime in on harmonica. She has a feel for that thing, that's for sure. When Trina would do a song, Natalia might play along on guitar (a serious player, not a strummer) and/or harmonize. Natalia, I was already a fan of, and with Trina, I became one pretty quickly.
Trina has a big voice, writes a lot of love songs and plays a killer harmonica. Her music styling is kind of folk rock with much blues thrown in, too. She doesn't sound like anyone else that I can think of. I bought one of her cds afterward.
Natalia, who I was all hepped up about to begin with, didn't let me down at all. In fact, I sat there thinking gee, is she ever going to play a song I don't flat out love? I'm not kidding. Maybe it's her style, I don't know. She's got this kind of smokey voice but her phrasing is different, like a jazz singer. I love the way she wraps around her lyrics. And...she is a heckuva writer, period.
They also called up Jess Klein from the audience and she did a couple of songs. That was a treat for all who were there.
The atmosphere at this house concert was very laid back, casual. Natalia & Trina hung out, chatted with any of us who approached during the break and after the show.
Another neat thing happened at the end of the set. The sound system went kaplooy so they walked out to the audience, Natalia sat down on the grass and played the guitar while Trina belted out one of her songs. It was no amplification, just a strong voice and guitar to end the night. Loved it.
$15 for this show. The hosts had wine, beer and food. Wasn't expecting that. It was very nice of them. Above and beyond, really.

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