CONCERT REVIEW: Sara Watkins & John Prine @ Merriam Theater, 2/19

countmeoutblog.blogspot.com Sara Watkins, not at the Merriam

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CONCERT REVIEW: Sara Watkins & John Prine @ Merriam Theater, 2/19

POSTED: Monday, February 22, 2010, 5:09 PM

Filed Under: Music Show

countmeoutblog.blogspot.com

Sara Watkins, not at the Merriam

The lobby of the Merriam Theater was packed with old folkies in well spun wools. On stage, beyond a sea of bald heads twinkling like stars in the limelight, stands Sara Watkins — barefoot and alone. By the time I find my seat, Watkins, formerly of Nickel Creek fiddles and croons her way through her first two songs. (Read my interview with Watkins)

"Oops," says Watkins as she straps on an acoustic guitar for her next tune. "How about you guys have a conversation with your neighbors for 15 seconds while I go get a few things I need, starting ... now!" After scampering back on stage, Watkins dove right into the first of three songs off of her 2009 acclaimed self-titled debut. Watkins isn't known for her guitar-playing, and her slender hands don't always hit the note they reach for, but it only serves to punctuate her voice calling out "Lord Won't You Help Me" to the rapt house. Watkins' set, like her album, was a beautiful arrangement of heartfelt originals intertwined with folk classics. Her transition into Robert Earl Keen's "Feelin' Good Again" was met with raucous applause. Sandwiched between "My Friend" and "Where Will You Be," two originals that could very well become every bit as classic as the standards she sings, Watkins went straight for the audience's jugular with Linda Ronstadt's "Different Drum" and Nickel Creek's "Anthony." Watkins sparsely plucked her fiddle through the verse of her closer, John Hartford's "Long Hot Summer Days," before the instrument erupted in a bellowing wail as the tune progressed, and ended with her stepping away from the microphone to howl out the chorus into the night.

Amid great applause and anticipation, headliner John Prine, and his band, including Dave Jacques and Jason Wilber, entered a stage where guitars outnumbered people 3:1. I had never heard of John Prine before this show (gasp!), and besides some serious folk-crunch, didn't know what to expect. I quickly saw what all the fuss has been about for the past ... oh ... four decades. Prine can spin some serious yarn, and I soon found myself wrapped up in the stories each song served to tell

"I wrote this song with a buddy of mine from Bristol, England. But I prefer to write songs by myself," croakeds Prine, before belting out "Glory of True Love." "That way, I know when they're over with. Plus, there always comes a time when I look over at the other guy and wonder 'What in the hell is going on in there?' With this particular song, I had my wife in mind at the time, and I was kinda hoping he didn't."

Not long after, Sara Watkins joined me for a few of Prine's songs, including a rendition of "That's the Way the World Goes 'Round." In my good ear, I heard her softly singing the chorus in harmony, under her breath: "That's the way that the world goes 'round, you're up one day, the next you're down. It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown, that's the way that the world goes 'round." She told me to pay special attention as Prine goes into a story of a woman who misheard the line about "half an inch of water" and instead asked him to play his song about "a happy enchilada." "You must have me confused with Jimmy Buffet," he cracked. Not long after, Watkins headed back to the stage to join in the grand finale, her sweetly powerful voice knitting together with Prine's raspy growl on each of the three duets they left audience with to savor.

Where not three hours before there had been a room of old folkies' reminiscing of John Prine concerts long since passed, the lobby was abuzz with talk of Watkins. As she made her way into the foyer, barefoot and beaming, new fans quickly swarmed around her; she took the time to personally thank them on their way to the door, signing autographs and scurrying backstage for more CDs once the first batch sold out.

Watkins Set:

1) ??? — Anyone know? Hit me up in the comments!

2) Miss My Kisses

3) Lord Won't You Help Me

4) Feels So Good, Feelin' Good Again

5) My Friend

6) Different Drum

7) Anthony

8) Where Will You Be

9) Long Hot Summer Days

John Prine Set:

1) Spanish Pipedream

2) Picture Show

3) Aimless Love

4) Six O'clock News

5) Souvenirs

6) Grandpa Was a Carpenter

7) Fish and Whistle

8) Glory of True Love

9) Angel from Montgomery

10) The Sins of Memphisto

11) Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)

12) Please Don't Bury Me

13) Donald and Lydia

14) That's the Way that the World Goes 'Round

15) Sam Stone

16) Hello in There

17) Lake Marie

-Encore-

1) In Spite of Ourselves

2) Late John Garfield Blues

3) Paradise

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