• The Passion of the Weiss
  • Gorilla vs. Bear
  • Greencine Daily
  • Music Is Art
  • Shake Your Fist
  • Big Stereo
  • The New Yorker
  • The Torture Garden
  • Ear Farm
  • J'ai la cassette à la maison
  • The Hater
  • The Yellow Stereo
  • Movie City Indie
  • Fader
  • Covert Curiosity
  • Chromewaves
  • Sucka Pants
  • AV Club
  • Tinyways
  • Palms Out
  • Girish Shambu
  • So Much Silence
  • Heart On A Stick
  • Untitled
  • Sixeyes
  • The Documentary Blog
  • Contrast Podcast
  • Fecal Face
  • Quick, Before It Melts
  • Muzzle of Bees
  • La Blogothèque
  • The Rawking Refuses To Stop
  • Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good
  • indieWIRE
  • Gimme Tinnitus
  • Conscientious
  • Toothpaste For Dinner
  • Cable & Tweed
  • Culture Bully
  • Oceans Never Listen
  • Juxtapoz
  • I Am Fuel, You Are Friends
  • Subinev
  • Bookslut
  • Filles Sourires
  • Berkeley Place
  • Get Underground
  • Nah Right
  • Motel de Moka
  • Raven Sings The Blues
  • Fact
  • Missing Toof
  • Badical Beats
  • Clap Cowards
  • Chuckmore
  • Anthem
  • It's the right thing to do
  • Something is wrong here, something is terribly wrong
  • There ain't no life for me on land
  • The greatest #8: The Dreaming
  • Still I walk in darkness
  • Home of the cheesesteak, the beef piled sky high
  • Blogiversary #2
  • Blood rain
  • The best 15 films of 2007
  • The best 30 albums of 2007
  • The best 30 singles of 2007
  • The best 30 songs of 2007
  • The Greatest #6: Veedon Fleece
  • Behind the blog: Blogs Are For Dogs
  • It's winter again and New York's been broken
  • Blogiversary
  • Up high and ugly: Xiu Xiu MP3s
  • The Greatest #2: New Skin For The Old Ceremony
  • Behind the blog: The Passion of the Weiss
  • The best 15 films of 2006
  • Good clean fun: Clean Guns MP3s
  • Behind the blog: Music Is Art
  • United 93
  • The best 30 albums of 2006
  • The best 30 songs of 2006
  • The best 30 singles of 2006
  • The chapter in my life entitled San Francisco
  • The Up Series
  • Review #4: Ys by Joanna Newsom
  • Happy Yom Kippur
  • Rock bottom riser: Smog MP3s
  • Justin Ringle
  • Dan McGee
  • Sebastian Krueger, pt. 2
  • Sebastian Krueger, pt. 1
  • Bry Webb
  • Greg Goldberg, pt. 2
  • Greg Goldberg, pt. 1
  • Benoît Pioulard, pt. 2
  • Benoît Pioulard, pt. 1
  • Kevin O'Connor
  • Conrad Standish
  • Chris Bear
  • Owen Ashworth
  • Andrew Bujalski
  • My Photo
    Name:
    Location: Brooklyn, NY

    The MP3s available here are for sampling purposes. Please support the artists by buying their albums and going to their shows. If you are the artist or label rep and don't want an MP3 featured, let me know. Links will otherwise stay live for about two weeks before they vanish into the ether.

    If you'd like to send music, art, writing or promo material for consideration, email me at nerdlitter[at]yahoo[dot]com. This site is designed in Firefox and may not look optimal in other browsers. You can get Firefox here.

    Powered by Blogger

    Wednesday, April 04, 2007

    Guest post: Satchel Jones

    For my second guest post, local singer-songwriter Satchel Jones has kindly stepped in to review a recent Lucinda Williams concert he caught at Radio City. After the set, he even got the added bonus of going backstage and hanging out with Lucinda. Here's Satchel to fill us in the details about what sounds like an excellent show. Enjoy.


    Lucinda Williams and guitarist Doug Pettibone

    Lucinda Williams @ Radio City Music Hall, 3-23-07

    Lucinda Williams is as complex and multifaceted as the genre of music she plays. The critics tend to call it Americana in lieu of tripping over the term blues-folk-rock-alternative-country every time they describe her style, but for devoted fans like me, no explanation is necessary.

    Williams has been in the business for three decades and makes no bones about it. She wears her long, slow path to success as a badge of honor. She was never a fly-by-night, one-hit-wunderkind looking to get rich quick and split with the money. In it for the long haul, she's developed a her body of work that reflects the craft of her extensive touring and vintage songwriting.

    Her increasing success most recently culminated in a show at New York City’s prestigious Radio City Music Hall. Williams’ set was a casual and naturalistic presentation of songs. After walking onstage to booming applause, she addressed the crowd with a soft-spoken, down-home drawl reminiscent of my friend’s mother’s in Tennessee. You get the feeling that she’s playing exclusively for you on her couch, even willing to share homespun anecdotes between songs.


    Doug Pettibone

    She played a strong sampling of her Grammy-winning, critically-acclaimed hits, such as the so-called hillbilly-hop tune “Righteously,” the heartrending “Lake Charles,” her bluesy stomp “Joy,” and the tragic “Drunken Angel.” As the set progressed, Williams began incorporating material from her newest album West. Violinist Jenny Scheinman came out for the last several songs, looking utterly terrified. Her skill was undeniable, but she was visibly intimidated by playing at Radio City. Williams even made a point to walk over to her side of the stage to lend support.

    Her reaction to the violinist’s nerves only illustrated just how comfortable Williams has become in a live setting. She’s also very adept at interacting with her fans and understanding how the audiences respond differently from town to town. At one point in the show, she further proved her unflappability by gracefully adapting to a capricious moment.

    “What is it Frank Sinatra said?” she asked. “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere?” The crowd roared its confirmation. “I think that’s true. L.A. probably comes in a close second though.” Suddenly, like a cat that’s been purring on your lap and then bites you without warning, the crowd flatly booed her comparison. But she took it in stride, almost as if she expected that fickle reaction. “Oops, I guess I made a faux pas,” she said before introducing “West,” the title song from her new album.


    Lucinda and Satchel

    She and the band performed for almost another hour before Radio City personnel said she could only play one more song, enforcing their 11 p.m. curfew. “I’d like to pay homage to the people that inspired me so I’d like to close with ‘Hard Time Killing Floor Blues’ by Skip James. It was written in the 1930s during the Depression, but I think it’s just as relevant today.”

    It started at a low smolder with Williams wandering into the song at a gentle, relaxed pace. Playing an old beat-up Telecaster, she started singing softly above the jangling guitar slung across her shoulder. The guitarist from the opening band, The Heartless Bastards, along with her full band and the now slightly less terror-stricken violinist, waited behind her to affix the song with wings and help it take flight. At least a thousand people were clapping along to the loose Delta blues backbeat, a wave of hands washing across the amphitheater air.


    Lucinda and Satchel's friend Whitney

    But it wasn’t that type of song. It wasn’t the house-rocking, juke-joint tune the audience was anticipating being sent home with. It was a slow burn. It was a soft moan. It was a dirty-overalls song better suited for the back porch than the front, made for singing around a small fire rather than under the blaze of bright city lights. It was a song of a restless soul in an uncertain time. The wordless refrain was a simple bluesy hum that separated the verses like the water lines left after a receding flood.

    The song was short and powerfully subtle. Folks were humming the refrain as they filed out of the enormous amphitheater. It felt more like the conclusion to a church service than the finale of a blues-folk-rock-alternative-country show, but it was every bit as inspiring.

    * MP3: "Can't Let Go" - Lucinda Williams from
    Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
    * MP3: "Jackson" - Lucinda Williams from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road [Buy it]


    Thanks a lot, Satchel for that great write-up. And make sure to check out Satchel's music by heading over to his MySpace page here.

    Comments on "Guest post: Satchel Jones"

     

    Anonymous Anonymous said ... (12:33 AM) : 

    This is a wonderful piece on an artist I missed at the "Hall".... It feels like I was there though. Satchel brought the concert to life for me. Hoping I'll "catch" Lucinda when she returns to the City.
    LJA

     

    post a comment