Ray

thank you paul. it takes someone from LA to report what’s happening in NY. 😯

stumbled on this blog while waiting for reports of the show — click on the lucinda photo for a recording from that night of Bus to Baton Rouge — including a talk/rap about the house, her mother, and mental illness. Moving — and emotional, as Paul said.

http://krupsjustsayin.blogspot.com/2007/10/mp3-monday.html

Inside Job: that is great news, indeed! Thanks for the correction and update. (Did i misunderstand what she said in Pennsylvania? She made some comment on the frustration of the music business and the album being out of print. My apologies if I heard it wrong.)

I definitely look forward to getting the deluxe version when it is released…. In the meantime, as an alternative, the LA live recording of that album night is just wonderful. 😀

lucinda mentioned this problem in her 9/26 show at the Keswick Theatre. She said she wanted to see the album re-released, but they weren’t doing it and would not sell the rights back to her… She threw up her arms and said something dismissive about the “music business”. 👿

the show at the keswick definitely rocked. In fact, a few songs in, lu asked the audience if they wanted a more “intellectual” set, or more rock. She heard “rock” and said she’d change things around. It seemed that she had a much more sedate, softer setlist planned for the night, and just abandoned it and did the rest of the show totally on the fly. A ripping, crowd-pleasing show ensued! If the Keswick wasn’t a sit-down theatre, the audience would have been dancing and moving.

Didn’t take notes, and foolishly listened to the LA cds on the long drive home ($80 happily contributed to the fund for all 5) — so my mind’s a big musical blur now — if someone else has the set list as played, i’d love seeing it. (INSIDE JOB : I’d love to see what was planned, too. Look forward to the posting….)

Introducing Are You Allright, Lucinda mentioned Imus playing that song (“turns out he is a big fan of my music; he was good for something after all!”) the Greensboro show and letter from the viet vet who heard Imus play the song, and talked about how there’s now a moving story to go with it. (Acknowledged men & women in uniform!) Mentioned her brother, “the prodigal son”, for whom she wrote the song.

There were some rough spots. “The book” — the “security blanket” — seemed more critical than ever, a few lyrics were missed, a few re-starts, a little rambling — but the audience embraced her warmly — lots of standing up to applaud, song after song. I think it was on Unsuffer Me near the end of the show that she missed some words, but told the guys to keep playing. As has been said here before, these things just make her all the more endearing. She clearly wanted to get everything right, and talked about how wonderful the LA shows were, but was concerned that the critics, when she gets to NY will not be forgiving.

Early on, she kind of regrouped with Out of Touch (wondering if there was anything to read into that choice, at that point…) and got into Metal Firecracker, Come On, Joy (with Riders on the Storm), Those 3 Days, Righteously, Honey Bee, Are You Down, Unsuffer Me. (not in order — and what did i forget? Feel free to correct, y’all.) Pineola, one of my favorites, was in there somewhere early.

The performance was unquestionably high energy. Here at tail end of the tour (what is it — 7 months into it?), you might expect to see signs of fatigue. But her great voice, awesome band, amazing talent shone through. And I couldn’t count the number of times I heard people shout out, We Love You Lucinda. I echo that sentiment here. 😀

nice encore with charlie –get right with god, and an absolutely sweet, beautiful, soft duet on one of the louvin bros. songs… plus i live my life, the fats domino song — so appropriate.

the delightful charlie louvin met folks outside on the street before the show, during his show mentioned their names and meeting and posing for photos, and said he wished he could meet everybody there! A gentleman, a class act, and an honor to hear him live. (BTW, saw him checking out a tricked-out pickup truck with a father and son outside before the show!)

looking toward tonight’s NJ show, final show before NYC…. Rock on, Lu!
8)

Well, yes, Ripley, on that old ACL show Lucinda has a different appearance (mainly darker hair), but that was a decade ago. To demonstrate her integrity, should she hold onto the same look she had when she played on Bourbon Street in the 70s? (Can Inside job post an old snapshot, please? 🙂 ) If you’re performing in the music business, especially if you are female, appearances are part of the game, fair or not. And you can call that marketability — I’ll give you that. We could hold focus groups about which Lu look is preferred, but that’s all superficial, and my point was about the integrity of the music, the songs, and the creative process.

In her songwriting and recording, she is a wonderful example of how to confound any cohesive marketing effort. I admire that. It takes courage and strength to say I’m not going to play the game by the rules of the corporate culture — maybe I’ll change my hair, but not my songs! I still don’t think there is a genre for her — not even “cutting-edge country”, as you say. And if she is becoming an alternate-route role model — and maybe getting comfortable in that role — well, that’s great for everyone.

I don’t think it is, or should be, “beneath” any artist to try something different, to experiment. I think that’s brave. Because you could fail in the eyes of your public.

None of us know what’s going on inside Lucinda’s head, but I have to believe, based on her past, that the songwriting flows without any effort to appeal to any particular audience, demographic, or market. That’s what I mean by “pure.” The creative process is organic, not contrived. I’m not saying she doesn’t care what fans and reviewers think. But I’d like to think that when lyrics and music flow from her head to paper, she could care less.

Can’t a “crowd-pleaser” like Joy also be written from the heart, and be just plain fun to perform? Why is that, or Honey Bee, or Come On, beneath her?

I can tell you have very high standards for Lucinda, and she’s earned that expectation, but maybe you should also just let Lu be Lu.