last week in live music: in my mind i'm gone to carolina

Today marks a Texas in Africa first: a guest post. Longtime readers of the site will have noticed that since the "in Africa" era of this blog commenced, the number of reviews of live music shows has declined precipitiously. This is due to the fact that it has been 107 days since I last saw a live show (which is about 106 days too many). But never fear, my Attorney has come to the rescue with the following fantastic review of last weekend's Merle Fest in Boone, North Carolina. Unfortunately, his wife The Librarian wasn't up for publishing her catty festival fashion commentary - if you want to hear us talk about inappropriate footwear, men in skirts, and various configurations of confabs, you'll have to join us at ACL. Thanks, Attorney!

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Guest Post: "There's no such thing as too many banjos,"* or "Nothing like a yodel gone wrong."**

It's hard to avod hyperbole when describing my impressions of Merle Fest 2006. Of course, it didn't hurt that the whole trip was gratis thanks to my spouse's Select-a-Set(TM) skills. Suffice it to say, it was a great 4 days. No rain, which is apparently unusual for this festival, plenty of shade when it did get warm (I'm looking at you, ACL festival), and GREAT music. A few observations, which may apply to North Carolinians generally, I'm not sure: (1) more non-ironic use of overalls than I'm used to; (2) Pete Seeger is NOT the guy who sings "Old Time Rock'n'Roll," but he is a really big deal; (3) lots of beards - Sam Beam would have an easy time blending into the MerleFest throngs; (4) most bands played more than once or twice, so if you missed their big show, you could catch them at a smaller stage and get really close.

Without further ado, here is the soundtrack, roughly in the order that I saw each band:

1. Doc Watson - "Fire on the Mountain"
Merle Fest is named after Merle Watson, Doc's son who died in a tractor mishap (driving a tractor through the mountains at night!?!!) back in the 80's. Doc is in his 80's, but he seemed to be playing somewhere constantly all 4 days of the festival. He is still as awesome as you would imagine.

2. Darrell Scott - "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"
Best singer-songwriter whom you are likely to mistake for a crazy homeless guy.

3. Jim Lauderdale - "Sandy Ford (Barbara Lee)"
Jim Lauderdale apparently uses the same hillbilly hairdresser as Marty Stuart. Great traditional bluegrass, though, plus some surprisingly swinging jazzy stuff.

4. John Prine - "Fish and Whistle"
Friday night's mainstage headliner. During "Some Humans Ain't Human," a falling star fell behind the trees that grew on the side of the hill above the stage. The audience applauded. The Librarian thinks John Prine is cute, in that he resembles MerleFest's raccoon mascot.

5. Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez - "Once Again, One Day . . . Will You Be Mine"
As a loyal Austinite, I didn't feel that the MerleFest audience appreciated Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez as they should have. I had no idea Chip Taylor wrote "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning." And now he performs cool Texas fiddle versions of those songs with Carrie Rodriguez, along with their even better new stuff that they wrote together.

6. Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell - "Two Different Things"
In a just world, they would be the voice of mainstream country radio. I don't think they had any songs about what heaven is like or the statute of liberty beating up people.

7. The Avett Brothers - "The Lowering (A Sad Day in Greenvilletown)"
Kind of like North Carolina's version of Split Lip Rayfield, but they also sing some mean ballads, including the above. That's Greenville, NC, by the way.

8. The Mammals - "Way Down the Old Plank Road"
What Nickel Creek might sound like if they were from Woodstock, NY, and fronted by Pete Seeger's grandson.

9. Gillian Welch - "Red Clay Halo"
I want to describe Gillian Welch as a less strung-out Lucinda Williams, but that doesn't do her justice. Her harmonies with David Rawlings are near pitch-perfect. Plus, Emmylou Harris came out to sing a couple of duets. [Texas in Africa Note: Welch's new single, "I'm Not Afraid to Die," recorded with Willie Nelson, is haunting and beautiful.]

10. The Duhks - "Leather Winged Bat"
What Nickel Creek might sound like if they were from Winnipeg, crossed with the Barenaked Ladies, and fronted by Pink.

11. Chatham County Line - "Arms of the Law"
Straight-up traditional bluegrass sound, and the whole band plays on stage around a single microphone. We brought home a copy of their "Route 23" Cd as a souvenir, and it's really good.

12. The Ditty Bops - "Sister Kate"
I finally got to see the Ditty Bops in the dance tent (Hurricane Rita kept them away from last year's ACL fest). The tall one came down and danced with the audience during "Sister Kate." Because they're so skinny, I'm guessing that they're probably vegetarians. [Texas in Africa Note: Okay, but how comfy were their shoes?]

13. Slaid Cleaves - "Broke Down"
Hard to do much better than Slaid Cleaves. He does Austin proud.

14. Guy Clark - "Dublin Blues"
I'm told this is the song that brought texasinafrica to Austin. I can see why. [Texas in Africa Note: Yep. Pretty much. It's all The Diplomat's fault.]

15. Nickel Creek - "The Fox"
Lots of fun as usual. They're doing a cover of Brittney Spears' "Toxic" now. You can hear it on their myspace page (not recorded at Merle Fest, but you get the idea). While you're at it, listen to "Doubting Thomas." They didn't play this last week, but it's probably going to make me have to buy their new CD. [Texas in Africa note - Oh. My. Oh, my, my. Oh, my, my, my, my, my, my, my. This is wrong on so many levels I don't know what to say.]

16. Eliza Gilkyson - "Peace Call"
Saturday night ended with a tribute to Woody Guthrie, with performances of his songs (including this one) by Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves, Guy Clark, David Bromberg, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Jimmy LaFave, Pete Seeger, and probably more that I'm forgetting. At the end, we all sang "This Land is Your Land," including the socialist verses about ignoring "No Trespass" signs.

17. Caroline Herring - "Wise Woman"
On Sunday morning, we caught a gospel set by Caroline Herring and Claire Holly. More than just two pretty girls from Mississippi who sing about Jesus (although they were that as well), both are great singer-songwriters and guitarists who sound really good together. I'm intrigued by their Live at St. Andrews CD, which unfortunately isn't on itunes. [Texas in Africa Note: I loooooovvvveee Caroline Herring's music. She was a UT PhD candidate, dropped out, and has been creating brilliant music ever since. Check out Wellspring. "Trace," "Magnolias," "Colorado Woman," and "MGM Grand" are some of my favorite songs anywhere.]

*A member of Platypus (the Duhks + the Mammals = more than a neuftet!!!)

**Slaid Cleaves