BACKSTAGE PASS

By Carol Thompson

An old and new favorite performed at the Door Community Auditorium last night. An old favorite for me, but new to the county, was Greensky Bluegrass, and they played with three-time DCA performers Elephant Revival, a band I hardly knew before the show.

Greensky Bluegrass say they’re a twist on the traditional genre. They may have classic bluegrass instrumentation, but they’ve created their own sound and style. My friend, a banjo player and lover of old country music, put it best.

“I never realized the banjo could be so groovy!” she said, dancing in her seat as the audience applauded a solo.

The stage at the Door Community Auditorium was set up for American Folklore Theatre’s Victory Farm, giving the Greensky Bluegrass set with its funky brightly colored lights a psychedelic cherry orchard feel.

The band played through the first set with old songs from early albums, and newer songs like Don’t Lie and Beauty and Pain from the newest album, Handguns.

The first set ended and the anticipation for Elephant Revival, a folk group from Colorado, to take the stage was obvious.

I had no idea what to expect, and this is what I was told by a longtime fan:

“If you are a good person with an ounce of a conscious, you will love them. Honestly, I wouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t like Elephant Revival.”

Well, good news for my soul. Elephant Revival was excellent. It sounds cliché, but they really were “transcendental.” It was easy to get lost in meditation and thought while listening to the simple but deep songs, which often get elevated by a driving bass drum beat.

Elephant Revival played older songs, like a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City and some tunes off their recent album These Changing Skies.

There was a lot of buzz about Rising Appalachia, at least in my circle of Door County friends. Everybody was intrigued by the tattooed, sultry sisters on the cover of the Door Community Auditorium program, and wondered what it would be like to see them perform. Nobody really knew what to expect, we just knew we wanted to go.

It’s a good thing we did – the show was great.

Sisters Leah and Chloe Smith make up Rising Appalachia, plus a handful of musicians that sometimes join them for shows. Leah and Chloe grew up in the South surrounded by music and arts, and have spent the last few years in New Orleans.

Their music is at once modern and traditional, moving and silly. The instrumentation was simple and beautiful, and their voices melted together the way only sisters’ voices can.

For me, the Rising Appalachia show was more about feeling than listening. The music took us from a front porch in Georgia to the Irish countryside, a swanky bar in New Orleans and the mountains of Bulgaria. And many of the songs had a message, be it about heartbreak, culture or the environment.

My favorite song of the night was Scale Down, the title track from one of their albums. The song was written about the mountaintop removal done in coal country in the Southeast U.S. and it’s poignant and inspirational.

I’d have to say Long Haul was a crowd favorite. It was written by Chloe after she had been through a bit of heartbreak. Leah helped her get through the pain by giving her a box of thrift store plates and these instructions: throw these plates against the wall. Soon, the plates were broken, Leah was over the heartbreak and an awesome song was written.

I’ve spent a lot of time at the Auditorium this summer, and it’s certainly not over, but Rising Appalachia carved a special spot in my memory. If you ever get a chance to see Rising Appalachia, the experience is not one to miss.

If you don’t believe me, check out some reactions I heard from the audience in the lobby after the show:

“I could have sat in that chair all night and listened.”
“My sister would love Rising Appalachia, especially the song Caminando. I’ll be right back, I have to buy her a CD.”
“Their voices are so clear, I haven’t heard anything like it.”

For two hours, James McMurtry and his band made the audience at the Door Community Auditorium feel like they were dancing on a dusty wood floor instead of sitting in rows, sipping beer instead of water, and wearing cowboy boots instead of flip flops.

He brought some grit to Fish Creek, and it was good.

James McMurtry is an accomplished songwriter, was nominated for a Grammy and has released 10 albums. His songs are moving, smart and entertaining. He definitely fulfilled the Auditorium’s promise to bring Door County a “season of story and song.”

But I have to admit – I went into this one blind. When reading the Auditorium’s 2013 lineup of musicians over the phone to my mother, she stopped me at James McMurtry. “James McMurtry! Carol. You have to go.”

That was all the convincing I needed, but hearing he’s the son of Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry didn’t hurt.

Larry’s storytelling prowess definitely shows itself in his son’s music. Both father and son tell stories with characters you love and remember, scenes that make you laugh or hurt, and they do it with beautiful, approachable language.

James McMurtry started off the night playing Bayou Tortoise, and moved on to other classics like Red Dress and Copper Canteen. The crowd favorite was definitely Just Us Kids, and mine was Out Here in the Middle.

His lyrics made the show feel like the best poetry reading on earth, but that didn’t overshadow the music, which was powerful and robust enough to move some of us from the polite Midwestern crowd to dance in front of the stage.

It probably isn’t fair to judge an act by the audience, but I think in James McMurtry’s case it would be ok. A good crowd came out to see his performance, and a lot of local musicians warmed the seats to see McMurtry play. pat mAcdonald even played a few songs with the band.

It was a good idea to trust those musicians in the crowd. The show was fun, impressive and moving. If I ever see James McMurtry on a lineup again, I won’t need any convincing. I’ll be there.

There’s nothing like being in a room packed full of people and knowing that every one of them is happy. That was the atmosphere at the Door Community Auditorium on Saturday before blues legend Taj Mahal took the stage. The anticipation was tangible.

The DCA’s 2013 summer lineup is great, and when I first read it back in April I immediately started strategizing and clearing my schedule so I could see my favorite acts. Taj Mahal was number one. How could I pass up seeing such a seasoned performer playing some of my favorite tunes right in Fish Creek?

Taj Mahal has won two Grammy awards, written scores for plays, performed around the world and carved out his place as a blues legend. He’s been performing for over 50 years, and roughly 23 years ago became a big part of my musical upbringing. Mule Bone was permanently on the rotation of CDs we played on the way home from school, and receiving my dad’s copy of The Essential Taj Mahal was a pretty big father/daughter moment.

Back to the DCA. When we were asked to “please give a Door County welcome to Taj Mahal,” the crowd erupted as Taj walked on stage with drummer Kester Smith and bassist Bill Rich. He opened the show with Corrina, and worked his way through classics like Fishin’ Blues, Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too, and Queen Bee.

There was a lot of grinning, chair dancing, toe tapping, shouts and applause, and not just from me. It was pretty clear Door County was loving Taj Mahal.

It wasn’t just the music that made the night so great. Taj and the band – he referred to them as the Taj Mahal Trio – are seasoned performers and know how to put on a good show. They played new and classic songs expertly, but changed up the rhythms just enough to keep them new and interesting for the blues buffs in the audience. I still can’t believe how easily Taj Mahal retuned his guitars between songs

For musicians who have been playing for more than 50 years, Taj, Smith and Rich were still enthusiastic. They love to play – that much was obvious – and love to play together. That was apparent with the joking that went on between songs and the dancing they did getting on and off stage.

Taj Mahal earned two standing ovations, and I think the crowd would have happily stayed until dawn if the band had kept playing.

The experience after the show was pretty similar to the one before the show – a room full of people, and all of them happy. But on the way out, we were all still tapping our toes.