Jones’ing for more Diana ~and~ In Praise of Good Venues
The Americana Music Festival just keeps getting better. Last night’s Diana Jones show at The Station Inn was a revelation. With multi-stringstrumentalist Beau “Butch” Stapleton at her side (mandolin, tenor guitar, banjo), the Nashville homegirl flat-out ‘folked’ the house!
The house, by the way, isn’t much more than a shack. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a club with such a small amount of square footage. I felt like I was in one of those Fort Nashborough log cabins down by the Cumberland. But the acoustics were through the tar-shingled roof! Even the Checker Cab guy who drove us there had kind words to say about the place, advising us that: “you might have a beer, but it’s all about the music.” I mean, when you can feel the vibration of the performer’s foot keeping beat through the seat of your chair just several feet away, you know that this is as intimate as a venue gets.
Jones performed about a half dozen songs from “My Remembrance of You” along with several fresh tunes - notably one Jones interpreted and set to music from a letter written by a trapped 1927 West Virginia coal miner to his wife. Using a chunk of coal and a ripped-off corner of a cement bag, the miner penned the emotional farewell when it became clear he was not going to survive.
That song - “Henry Russell’s Last Words” - was so profoundly sad and beautifully wrought that it brought tears to my eyes, and I do not mean that I got a little misty. Big, fat embarrassing crocodile tears were rolling down my face, ok? Jones humbly offered that the letter was so beautiful that the song practically wrote itself but we know better. You can read the full story of how the song came into being here.
Coming from the pristine acoustics and fan reverence of the Station Inn, it was admittedly a bit of a slap in the face to arrive at the packed and rowdy Exit/In for the non-conference-associated Josh Ritter show an hour later. No doubt I have gotten a bit spoiled from frequenting the Americana Festival shows, where the audience is practically designed to be respectful of its darlings.
Even so, I was not impressed with the Exit/In, from the burly, surly guy at the entrance to the two-fisting frat bros, to the bouncey, bass-heavy acoustics. Ritter, of course, delivered an amazing performance. Can this guy do anything wrong? Loved the new tunes from “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter”, and loved even more that he perfomed many, many, old favorites with which I am currently more familiar.
Fortunately for Ritter, but unfortunately for his early fans, he is getting such well-deserved recognition these days that it is going to be difficult to see him perform in any setting that isn’t a large, in-it-for-the-money, venue anymore. I am so glad that I got to see him several years ago at a front-seat table at the wonderful Joe’s Pub in NYC, as well as in the Barnes & Noble.com “Conference Room H Lunchtime Concerts” series (the best-ever perk of working there).
Finally, I wrapped it up at the midnight Gurf Morlix show at 3rd & Lindsley. Happy to be back with my peeps from the Conference, hubby and I had the good luck to squeeze into two just-vacated primo seats at the bar. 3rd & Lindsley? Somewhere in between the Station Inn and the Exit/Inn. Medium-sized. Decent acoustics. Really weird layout. Previously unfamiliar with Morlix, I had heard him sing the night before at the awards show and had wanted more. He did not disappoint and I was so glad I made the effort to catch one…more….show.
And now there’s only one more day/night of festivities. I am already a little sad! More tomorrow.
Posted in Venues, Americana Music Festival
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