BRUCE ROBISON

 

BRUCE ROBISON and KELLY WILLIS

 

BRUCE ROBISON at Unplugged at the Grove 8-13-09

Saw Bruce 2 weeks ago at the Cactus but still looked forward to this show just as much. Different vibes and it’s all good.
He had most of the band, lead, bass, steel & drums with him. The only person missing was Sweeney on keys.
The cool thing about an Austin show is there is always the chance his wife, Kelly Willis, might show up and sing a few, too. Sure enough, Kelly and their 4 kids rolled in about an hour before show time.
Bruce kicked the show off with a rollicking, brand new song called “Born To Roll.” This is a vintage Robison song about being on the road and it is catchy! When the record comes out, Rodney Crowell will be singing on it with him.
He did a great 1 1/2 hour set with many of his classics: Travelin’ Soldier,” “Lifeline,” “The Good Life,” “California 85,” “She Don’t Care,” “Rayne, Louisiana,” “Desperately,” “My Brother and Me,” and “Wrapped.”
We also got another new song called “The New Me.”
He brought Kelly up early in the set and they did 2 songs together: “Angry All The Time” and “I’ll Go To My Grave Loving You.” It is always so much fun when they sing together. God, what a voice she has! Never ceases to amaze me.
So, I have heard 3 unreleased songs in the last 2 weeks from Bruce and they are all sounding really good. Have no idea when his next record is coming out but I know I’ll be buying it straight away!
Got some nice videos from this night including the 2 with Kelly, the 2 new songs and also “Lifeline.”

you tube.com/DownThunderRoad

SARAH JAROSZ

 

SARAH JAROSZ at Unplugged at the Grove 8-6-09

Opposite worlds, last night to tonight. From the veteran Eliza the night before to the 18 year old Sarah on this night. Sarah was solo, just her & her various guitars, mandolin and banjo. I thought, no way this kid is going to be able to hold this crowd for 2 hours by herself. I was dead wrong. It was a pretty big audience and it was quiet. Everybody was paying attention because she is that good. She just released her debut record "Songs Up In Her Head." She played many from the album. I would put Sarah in the Americana/Folk/Bluegrass genre if I had to stick her somewhere. But her tastes and sounds are all over the place. As an example, she did covers of Patty Griffin, Gnarls Barkley, Bob Dylan, The Decemberists, Tom Waits, Bill Withers and Gillian Welch. Mature way beyond her years, she appears to be a humble, yet seasoned, performer. This was a fun night. You don't get a chance very often to see someone at such a young age, starting to make their way. It's exciting. Sarah leaves soon to begin her college days at the New England Conservatory of Music. You'll be hearing from her. I guarantee that. Check out Sarah from this video she put out of her cd release show at the Blue Rock studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I40Wr_Q9wnI

and then go buy her excellent debut cd here:

http://www.sarahjarosz.com/index.html

or at Waterloo Records.

ELIZA GILKYSON

 
 

ELIZA GILKYSON at Scholz Beer Garten 8-5-09

A rare treat these days, getting to see Eliza. Let alone for free.
It was hot as could be, over 100, but nobody seemed to care. The place was packed.
We got a full band show. Nothing new, just your basic, great Eliza singing her basic, great songs. We got several of my favorites: "Not Lonely," "Emerald Street," "Runaway Train," "Wildewood Spring," "The Party's Over," "Dark Side Of Town," "Think About You."
Eliza was more chatty with the audience than I've seen her previously. Joking about the hot weather and such. She is recently back from a tour of Europe where the high was in the 60's every day.
The show consisted of 2 sets and lasted until 10pm. It started at 7:30. The crowd demanded an encore so she came back for the "die hards," as she referred to us.
Just a wonderful night of great music, as always, with Eliza.