Words and Music

June 14, 2011, Cambridge, MA – Catching up on my concert reviews for 2011. I really should do this right after the event happens….I have been listening to Carrie Rodriquez for a few years now and love her. She’s another one from Austin and is known for her fiddle playing as well as singing and songwriting. I recently saw her perform on The Colbert Report with Jeff Bridges – I’m guessing I was one of the few who actually recognized her.

As you can see from the picture I took, I got a table in the front row at Club Passim, aka my favorite music room. She only had one other musician on this gig (whose name escapes me, sorry) who switched among pedal steel, electric, and acoustic guitars. Carrie herself moved from fiddle to mandobird to tenor guitar. She can really play and her  style moves from down-home country fiddlin’ to indie singer-songwriter.

The set included new songs from her latest album (which I just bought on Amazon for only $4.99!) as well as some of hits from her past albums, like She Ain’t Me and Seven Angels on a Bicycle. I didn’t realize that the latter song was about a friend who had passed away and this story added some extra poignancy to the piece during the show.

She seems to be constantly touring, so next time she’s in your town, go see her and support live music – that’s how they make their money, people! I think the only disappointing part of the night was that the club was not completely full, perhaps due to the Tuesday night slot.

The Set List:

1. Keep your Words
2. Big Love
3. I Don’t Want to Play House Anymore
4. 50’s French
5. Absence
6. Got Your Name On It
7. Lake Harriet
8. Waterbound
9. She Ain’t Me
10. Seven Angels on a Bicycle
11. I am Not a Farmer -> Blackberry
12. When I Heard Gypsy Davy Sing
13. El Salvador
14. Today I Started Loving You
15. Never Gonna Be Your Bride
16. La Punalada Trapera
17. Encores – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry; Say Darlin’ Say

The traditional picture of the setlist.