tntracy

We just got home from Athens, GA, where we saw “An Evening With Iris DeMent” at The Melting Point. Iris played & sang all by her lonesome; the first half or so of the main set she played a grand piano, followed by a few songs on acoustic guitar, then back again on the piano to finish up the main set. For her encore, she performed two more songs, again on piano. I didn’t take notes, but she played nearly all of the songs from Sing The Delta (highlights for me were “The Night I Learned How Not To Pray”, “There’s A Whole Lotta Heaven” & “Mama Was Always Tellin’ Her Truth” – the latter complete with an endearing “brain cramp” where she forgot what verse was next after a chorus – rather than restarting or aborting the song as a “false start”, she simply apologized & picked up the song again where she left off once she realized where that was). She also sang a cover of a Jimmie Rodgers’ classic, “For The Sake Of Days Gone By”. While on acoustic guitar, she played a favorite of punchdrunklove’s – “Our Town”, from her 1992 classic, Infamous Angel (also a highlight for me). And, she played the title track from My Life during her encore.

The show was sold-out – the first time I have seen this at The Melting Point (my two prior shows there, Kathleen Edwards & Justin Townes Earle, were not). Therefore, despite our arriving 45 minutes early, there was not an empty table remaining, nor a seat to be had among the folding chairs on the floor (also a first for me at this venue – the floor was left open for my previous two visits). Luckily, a nice couple (he a retired history professor from the University of Alaska, of all places, despite Athens being the home of the University of Georgia) at a four-top table on the second level just to the right of the sound board took pity on us & kindly offered us their table’s two unused chairs.

In the “what I learned new” department, Ms. DeMent, while chatting between songs, mentioned that her husband, the incredible songwriter & artist Greg Brown, actually has a film soundtrack on his résumé – a little indy film entitled Zandar: Cow From Hell. She claimed it received only one, short review at the time of its release which simply stated, “No market”. Given her droll delivery, it was hard to tell if she was being serious or not, but I suspect she was, given the film’s apparent subject matter… 😆

Tom

Mea culpa, Mr. Stoger… 😳 😈

Tom

@Lefty wrote:

Is that it, TO — nothing else?! 😉

Yeah, what about all those hours she wastes every day with her eyes closed? 😆

Tom

Thanks for the mighty fine report, stoger. Sarah & I will be seeing Ms. DeMent at our favorite venue in Athens, GA, the Melting Point, this coming Friday night… 8)

Tom

@LWjetta wrote:

Perhaps our Moderator could make this topic a “sticky”

Good idea! 😉 Anticipating lots of news on this front in the coming months!

Tom

#1/100 has hit $200, but the rest of the lot of 100 has been listed on eBay, all with starting bids of $50. Just search on “Lucinda Williams b/w Tommy Keene Songs For Slim”…

Tom

@vinylfan wrote:

If I can afford it, I’ll pick one up and record it for you. That’s a huge if. I’ll let ya know in a week. Any idea when the auction begins, other than today?

Wow, vinylfan, that is such a generous offer (“huge ‘if'”understood!). No, I have no idea when the auction is starting or even how to bid. But please don’t go out of your way in getting a copy (unless you just want to for yourself!) – I am sure I can procure a digital copy once the auction is over. Or, like the linked-to page says, there may even be an album compilation released! I would think they ultimately would do that, as it would maximize the money raised for Mr. Dunlap…

Tom