canal street tavern

=)

kathleen edwards - headliner's/louisville (04.17.2008)

first, kathleen edwards rocks. absolutely no debate or question about it. she rocks. for those not familiar with her, she's one of those little girls (maybe 5'-5'2" & 100-110 lbs) with a big voice and she can drink and cuss (and rock) harder than any man (or woman) twice her size. she is currently touring in support of her (excellent) new record, "asking for flowers" and played headliner's on thursday night, which was a perfect (yet unfortunately, underattended) venue for her and her band, led by husband colin cripps.

this was the third time that i had seen her and while she was excellent everytime, each show has been better than the one before and last night was no exception. about 5:30am (after her show ended about 12:30 am), louisville experienced a very rare event, a 5.4 scale earthquake, followed by a 4.7 aftershock @ about 11:40am, i joked to a co-worker that kathleen rocked the city so hard that it was still shakin' the next morning.

her set was well balanced from her two previous records, "failer" and "back to me" (still my favorite) and leaning heavily towards stuff from "asking for flowers." while her first two nailed me from the first listen, i was a little disapponted with "asking..." on the first pass, but it has grown on me with each additional listen and now holds up very well to her other work.

she opened the show by telling us..."you’ve got to warm up a little bit before you bust a nut” and moved into the beautiful "mercury" (from "failer"), playing an old and well-worn gibson acoustic. we were also treated to her on electric and fiddle/violin, her band was tight and had a great time playing with her/for us. we also got the back story behind "i make the dough, you get the glory" (great one/marty mcsorley) and the live debut of "oh canada."

one of the funniest moments of the night was her telling us after the first couple of songs, "i love playing louisville, this is my beverage mecca" then she bent over, picked up her glass, which we later found out contained woodford reserve and held it up to the audience and said "i'm no diva, but it's great that you don't have to explain what 'bourbon is' in your rider when you play here" to huge applause. then she asked "which way is woodford county?" someone pointed towards the back of the stage and she turned around, took a sip, bowed and blew a kiss in that direction. later in the show, while playing very hard and pacing the stage, she accidentially kicked over her glass of woodford and told us, "oh no! i spilled my bourbon...GOOD NIGHT!" (it was quickly replaced with a smile from a fan up front).

kathleen, like most music that i seem to enjoy, doesn't really fit neatly into any "genre"... not pop, not rock, not alt-country, she's like if you threw them all into a bag, shook it up hard and let it go. and it works. beautifully.

i was able to snag a setlist and she signed it and a couple of pics for me after the show. as she was previously, she was very sweet and personable, thanking me (and everyone else) for coming out and supporting her and her music, such a sweetheart.

i've said often, if you get a chance to see this girl play live. GO! trust me, you will not regret it.

Cat Power - Song for Bobby...

god, i just love this woman...

Reach a hand to the crescent moon...

Reach a hand to the crescent moon
grab hold of the hollow
If she sits in the palm of the left
that moon will be fuller tomorrow
If she sits in the palm of the right
that moon is on the wane
and the love of the one who shares your bed
will be doing just the same

Won't you come with me', she said,
there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain'

Out among the fields gently hipped
beneath the corn,
Assiniboine bones beneath the highway
he stood there and he thought of home
A finger traces the path of a satellite
You're drawn to a distant copse of trees
A voice as sweet as Mare's Tail
clings to the prairie breeze

Won't you come with me', she said,
there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain'

Do I reach for you
when I know you're on the wane?
Do I sense you when I know you're not around?
Do I search for you
when I know you can't be found?
Do I dare to speak your name?

Raise your eyes to a moonless sky
and try to wish upon a rising star
Search all you want for her blessing
but you won't find her sparkling there
Now cast your eyes to a part of the sky
where nothing but darkness unfolds
and watch as all around you
she reveals the brilliance of secrets untold

Won't you come with me, she said,
there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain

(Mike Timmins)

april 4th - 40 years ago...

Abraham, Martin and John
Recorded by "Dion"
Words and Music by Richard Holler

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
You know, I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked 'round and he's gone.

Didn't you love the things that they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?
And we'll be free
Some day soon, and it's a-gonna be one day ...

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walk up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.

---------------------------------------------------------

a sad memory of a sad day. it's one of those things that i remember like it was yesterday, hearing the news over the radio while riding in the car with my mother (today is her also birthday), hearing the news and her saying simply saying, "oh my god."

i was 12 at the time of his death and growing up in atlanta, i knew of him and what he stood for but i don't think i had any clue of his worldly (or even national) significance at the time of his death, but i knew something major, something horrible, something big had just happened from her reaction.

the world lost a great man, a great leader and part of our conscience and a piece of our soul on that day, it would have been a much better place had he been allowed to stay in it longer.