It never rains but it pours, and it is pouring around here, both literally and figuratively. Last night I went to see The Anonymous Four in concert. My friend had given me tickets for my birthday last August; lucky thing I remembered where I put the tickets and when the concert was!
The Anonymous Four are a quartet (duh!) of women who sing mainly American sacred music: sacred harp, shape note, etc. Maybe you have heard them on A Prairie Home Companion and NPR, among other venues. Technically, they were very good. Their harmonies were exquisite and it was a pleasure to hear both old favorites and new songs. But, as my companion for the evening said afterward, perhaps they were a little too good for the style of music they were doing. All of them are classically trained, with real book larnin', music degrees, and everything. And the thing is, the music they performed, largely comes from grassroots traditions. It is community music, and as such, felt a little out of place being performed for an audience of polite middle-aged people in a concert hall. At least that is how I felt, but I have been known to be a little opinionated every now and then.
Tonight I went to hear one of my favorite contemporary singer-songwriters, Kris Delmhorst. She was wonderful, as usual. If you like folkie stuff and have a chance to see her, by all means do. She's based in the Boston area, but criss-crosses the country (and the Atlantic Ocean) pretty frequently. She may be slowing down her touring a little after June, because she's having a baby. (Sigh. Mommy energy: It's just one more reason for me to love her.)
Here's a sample:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I discovered the Medieavel Babes while looking for an Anon 4 CD one day. I like the Anon 4 but now I dig the MB's too.
I'll have to look them up. Maybe the Anonymous Four, the Medieval Babes and the 4 Bitchin' Babes should get together and rumble.
That is an interesting comment about the classical training of the group and maybe being "too good" for the style. I've struggled with similar thoughts. I've wondered if maybe I/we don't know the effect the music has on the audience of "polite, middle aged people". If just one person is moved to learn and understand the sources of this music, that's good. Also, isn't the audience of "polite, middle aged people" in fact a "community"? I get your point. It is important to realize this, but we can't say for certain what will be changed in people by hearing this music. Thanks for the post.
They both sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Music can turn polite middle aged people into savage beasts!
Actually, I think it was fine, but I just prefer that kind of music in the context of singing together, not hearing it performed. They WERE good and were obviously enjoying them selves too.
Post a Comment