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Dayna Kurtz(USA) / Buddy Miller (USA)
01/29/05
Handelsbeurs, Gent
Amazing Americana
Buddy Miller set list (for those who care): You Win Again / Does My Ring Burn Your Finger / The Price of Love / My Love Will Follow You / There's a Higher Power / Wide River to Cross / Worry Too Much / Don't Wait / That's How I Got to Memphis / All My Tears / Shelter Me / With God on Our Side / A Showman's Life / I'm Pretending / Midnight and Lonesome / ??? (a swift country shuffle) / Sleeping in the Devil's Bed // When I Paint My Masterpiece / That's How Strong My Love Is / Don't Let Your Deal Go Down // Hole in My Head
I'd immersed myself thoroughly in Dayna Kurtz's universe the few days before this concert and perhaps that's something I shouldn't do again, as I was a tad disappointed by her solo performance. She still has one of the most amazing female voices in contemporary Americana though, with an almost masculine force, jazz-like elasticity and ability to switch from hollers to whispers in a split second. There was nothing wrong with her songs in themselves I guess, but her two albums - Postcards from Downtown and Beautiful Yesterday - are wrapped up in a kind of Bohemian thing that's as much European as it is American, with hints of country and chanson, blues and nearly experimental touches, and those arrangements where exactly what I was missing several times. Usually it's the other way around, usually the songs benefit from the bare-boned presentation, no longer covered by excess that's potentially a way to cover up the lack of substance. By presenting these songs on her own, several of the songs lacked the original charm of the studio versions, the gypsy touches and the seductive Parisian ambiance. "Amsterdam Crown" was nice, and so was her interpretation of "Parlez-Moi d'Amour" (perhaps the exception to the rule, and better than it's slightly bloated counterpart on Beautiful Yesterday), but the first true gem came with "Postcards from Downtown," which first sentence "I lost all my faith in love" turned the entire audience quiet. Dispersing the set list, Kurtz next set out to play whatever she wanted, starting with Johnny Cash's "All Over Again," which was pretty, a bluesy new song ("Careful What You Wish For"?) and a deconstruction of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," which was preceded by a short apology for Bush's existence. The studio version of said song managed to get by on the strength of its awkward fusion of straightforwardness and experiment, but this live version bordered on being grating, with both Kurtz's voice and guitar playing (was there something wrong with the tuning?) trading in subtlety for dissonant coarseness. That doesn't always work. Anyway, after that she closed off the set with one of her strongest songs ("Love gets in the Way") and returned for a brief encore and play the miniature "Music Box" (with a nice comment added: "I wanted to write a song from the point of view of an object, but it wound up being a song about me… they're all about me"). Kurtz is definitely a major talent (can you call anyone who's been around for a decade and a half a "talent"?), but somehow this wasn't the small triumph I'd hoped it would be. Let's hope that next time (backed by a band?) the sparks will fly in all directions.
Buddy Miller, on the other hand, exceeded my expectations. I know he's garnered quite a reputation for himself, as a songwriter, guitar player, as Emmylou Harris' sidekick in Spyboy and as a solo artist, but it's always a blast when a performer gives you something you didn't dare to expect. While he's currently on tour in support of his latest, Grammy-nominated album Universal United House of Prayer, the entire show served as an ideal introduction to the man's small but rich catalogue, which gets its strengths both from his own gritty brand of Americana, as well as a bunch of well-chosen covers lifted from several decades of American roots music. Respecting the calm momentum built up by Kurtz, Miller started off his set on a calmer note, with a laidback take on Hank Williams' "You Win Again," which immediately betrayed the terrific interplay of the band, as Miller, drummer Bryan Owings, organ/accordion player Phil Madeira and a new bass player churned out a rust-covered crossover of country-rock, blues, swamp sounds and sun-drenched guitar epics that evoked the best of Neil Young, Steve Earle, gospel and the spirit of traditional country. Even though the set started off with some old material ("My Love Will Follow You" from his marvellous debut album) and some covers (The Louvin Brothers' "There's a Higher Power" and a muddy interpretation of The Everly Brothers' "The Price of Love"), Miller & Co. soon got to the impressive diversity that's also displayed on the new album: the combination of electric and acoustic during "Worry Too Much," the tough raunchiness of "Don't Wait" and "Shelter Me," which was topped off by an amazing shredding guitar solo. Miller's brand of rock certainly isn't innovating, but as is the case with Ron Sexsmith and Lyle Lovett, for instance, you get craftsmanship that's honed by years of experience and the consistency of the man's material is nothing but sheer bliss. If you're not into this particular genre, it may all sound rather monotonous - certainly because Miller's voice fits in that slightly nasal country tradition - but there was a nice alternation of tough rock (a blistering version of Dylan's "With God on Our Side" the brooding "Midnight and Lonesome"), traditional material (the country shuffle "I'm Pretending"), wonderful moments like a solo take on Tom T. Hall's "How I Got to Memphis" during which you couldn't even hear a whisper, Judie Miller's "All My Tears" (recorded by Emmylou Harris on Wrecking Ball) and, finally, Daniel Lanois' "Sleeping in the Devil's Bed." As if the set didn't already prove Miller belongs in the generation of roots artists that has recorded an abundance of great music on a par with the outlaw movement of a few decades ago (I mean, what can go wrong in the company of Earle, Lovett, Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rodney Crowell, etc?), the encores only served to further prove that point, with covers of The Band's "That When I Paint My Masterpiece," a swingin' "Don't Let That Deal Go Down" (The Grateful Dead) and the delicate ballad "That's How Strong My Love Is." Honest, soulful rock 'n' roll, stories about highs and lows and humorous moments (an anecdote about his 50$ pawnshop guitar was quite hilarious), delivered by a gifted band, spearheaded by a first-tier songwriter/musician, nothing more and certainly nothing less.
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