Eddie-torial Comments

Homefront June 12, 2005

Music

The last Homefront of the season was last Saturday, and it was stupendous! Irene Kelley set the stage with a great selection of her heart-ache soaked country—including “Bluer Than That.” The woman knows how to wring every drop of honest emotion from her songs without ever tilting over into sentimentality. She also paid homage to Dolly Parton with “Coat of Many Colors.” How can you not love a set like that?

Curtis Burch (formerly of Newgrass Revival) was next up with his wife Ruth, and a couple of friends. They did a great range of bluegrass and other styles of music. Ruth has one of those slightly dusky/smoky voices that I just love, and no one can play dobro like Curtis.

The second show opened with Chip Andrus and his band. They do an interesting take on adult contemporary music, by adding a dash of spirituality to their lyrics. They keep things from being overtly religious and end up being thought-provoking, instead of preachy. Most of their set was stuck in the same tempo, however, which made all the songs sound too similar for my tastes.

Louisville band Fire the Saddle closed the evening with their catchy, spooky blend of folk, rock, and old timey music. They fit nicely into the Gillian-Old Crow-Duhks niche. I'm starting to think a whole generation of musical old souls has burst on to the scene in the last couple of years. Excellent stuff.

It was a great Homefront night and a great way to end the season. The only real kink to the evening was featuring Col. Bob Thompson as the storyteller. He’s mildly annoying, but tolerable, as the host of the storytelling segment, but did nothing for me as the featured storyteller. I know he has a local rep as a storyteller and a passion for preserving the artform, but he tries way too hard to be clever for my tastes. Still, he usually does find interesting folks to come to the show and share stories. Hopefully, next time, we'll hear one of them.

Next weekend, there's a special road trip Homefront, as the show goes to Corydon Indiana to tape the Bluegrass on the Square show, which is totally FREE and features Tim O'Brien. I wanna go!!!!