28.8.09
The genius that is Sharon Van Etten is playing Joe's Pub Friday, September 4. If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, then you know how much we love her. You should also grab her newly released album, Because I Was In Love, out on Language Of Stone, which scored a nifty 7.7 on pitchfork. I highly recommend you check out this show. Joe's Pub has one of the best sound systems in the city. It will be amazing...no question....don't miss it.
Sharon Van Etten has a soft, strong soprano that trembles with slight vibrato in the long sustained notes. High, angelic, disembodied, without audible strain or breath, she traces out melodies, yet just when the tone seems too pure, she slips into the smallest earthy slides, the slightest Appalachian catches and yodels, an angel trying out the blues. You could imagine her as one of the 1960s’ long-lost flower children – more grounded than Vashti Bunyan, less overtly jazzy than Linda Perhacs, but in the same family. Still there’s a touch of modernity, of self-direction and self-reliance in her work that places her firmly in the here and now."
-Dusted Magazine
Meg Baird (The Baird Sisters, Espers) has been playing music with her sister Laura for as long as she can remember. The sisters were introduced to a trove of traditional material via Smithsonian Archives LPs early in life. Their natural gravitation to folk music must have been strong if they felt compelled to write to agencies associated with the Federal Government to unearth old tunes from the vaults. In preparation for Dear Companion, her first solo outing, Meg chose songs that showed signs of holding up to repeat listenings. The result a beautiful collection of melodies, some ancient, some old and some refreshingly new.
