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Concert Report: Gillian Welch

Tonight (Wednesday night) I went to see folk/country singer Gillian Welch perform downtown in the same place I saw Nickel Creek in April. I had heard a lot about Gillian, but hadn't really heard much of her music except on soundtracks. On her reputation alone, though, I wanted to see her in concert when I found out she'd be playing here. Well, now that I've seen her, I'm glad I made that decision! The concert was awesome and I had a great time.

The doors opened at 7 and my mom and I got seats up in the balcony. We had a great view of the stage, even if it was a bit far away. Finally at 8 the concert got under way. Old Crow Medicine Show opened up the gig for Gillian. The Old Crows, as they call themselves, are a bluegrass group from Nashville. They played mostly fast, high energy typical bluegrass songs. The fiddle player was humorous and played excellently with a fast and wild style. The other members played upright bass and guitar and two of the guys played banjo. I liked their set, although I do wish there had been more solos especially for the banjo players. I do love the sound of the banjo, so I wanted to hear more. The singing was great though, with on-spot harmonies, and the songs were mostly upbeat and kept the audience in a happy mood. One of their more curious songs was about cocaine, the music to which was filled with groove and sass.

The Old Crows played for about 40 minutes, and then after a break Gillian and her partner David Rawlings took the stage. Both of them play acoustic guitar for most of the songs. Gillian would occasionally play banjo and both of them took out harmonicas once. They both harmonize very well with each other, adding a depth to the simply-arranged songs. Gillian, though, has a very sweet, melodic, and pure voice that proves she deserves her high reputation. Her voice is like a piece of the South itself, both lovely and folky. There's a bit of an edge to her singing at times, but mostly she just sings beautifully.

Musically, Gillian plays rhythm on her acoustic, and David plays lead. He has a very energetic, jazzy style of guitar playing. He moves his body around and shakes all over and lets his hands go crazy on his instrument. He had the opportunity to take many solos during the songs, after which the crowd would enthusiastically cheer. The songs themselves were mid-tempo ballads and, well, just songs. The lyrics were sharp and evocative, and the music did enough to make the words work and convey whatever emotion Gillian needed the audience to feel. She and David are just plain awesome musicians and songwriters.

They played a two hour set with a fifteen minute intermission. They came out for an encore, played two songs including "I'll Fly Away" from the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, and then brought the Old Crows back for more encore. Tonight was one of the last nights the two groups would be playing together, so they did an extended combined encore that lasted at least 25 minutes. We, however, left after 20 minutes because my mom needed to get to bed for work tomorrow. So that is where our night ended. I had an amazing time and was so captivated by Gillian's powerful voice. There is no doubt that she is a fine musician and a star in the country and folk music worlds.

If I think of any other details about the concert, I'll post them here later.

*edit* Yep, I forgot some stuff: Descriptions of the musicians! Gillian was wearing a long, red flowery dress and had her brown hair down. David is a very tall man with long hair who wore a black suit or something that looks like a suit. I'm too tired to describe the Old Crows except to say that they looked very young.