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| This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #102 (October / November 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription. |
Concert Reviews
The Whites with Southern Exposure
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO
June 15, 2002
For 16 of their 21-year-existence, Colorado's Southern Exposure has played the Arvada Center's summertime series. While that's certainly a laudable feat in itself, as a bonus they are usually consulted for their choice of headliner. This year the band opted for the Whites, with whom they had crossed paths eons ago.
After an entertaining set from a fully clad Exposure, who joked about mandolinists playing guitars with thyroid problems and candy-apple red basses that resembled mutant Swiss army knives, the stately Whites took the stage. Even though the troupe had been together ever since daughters Sharon and Cheryl sat below a steering wheel, it became evident why the group still remains one of the hidden treasures of bluegrass. Daddy Buck sparkled on mandolin, exhibiting a full command of this mutant guitar, while Sharon and Cheryl sang gorgeous, lush harmonies and provided solid guitar and string-bass accompaniment. Adept instrumentalist Wanda Vick played mostly Dobro but occasionally fired away on fiddle. At times the proceedings ran deep into tall bluegrass, other times they straddled country and became reverent with gospel interpretations. "Needles and Pins" featured the trio singing in full force, and the Delmore Brothers' "Blue Letter" was one of the many songs that emphasized the sisters' crystalline harmonic convergence. "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" rolled effortlessly like a sagebrush swept by a gusty windstorm.
Along the way, the Whites revealed their homey personalities to an enraptured audience. Buck recounted the fabled day he met his future bride which, naturally, resulted in good-natured groans from the smiling siblings. A song dedicated to Cheryl and Sharon's producer, "Abilene Gal," as well as "Texas to a 'T'," a tune custom fit for Buck, emphasized how each selection recalled a photo from a family album. In a way, this front porch affair resembled a sonic version of Nick At Night with your hosts, the Whites, in their new crib, the Arvada Center. While most national touring acts would have said "tally ho" at the evening's end, the Whites graciously invited Southern Exposure onstage for rousing renditions of "Keep on the Sunny Side"and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."
"This is going to be an evening of very sad songs," she announced with a winning smile as she took the stage along with her longtime accompanist, Dublin guitarist Graham Dunne. And indeed, her material was weighted heavily toward songs of lost loves, homesick travelers, and hard times. The evening was lightened, however, by her informal, often whimsical introductions and her obvious delight in performing. Parsons is graced with one of the best voices in Irish music, rich and smoky, reminiscent of June Tabor in her lower register and Dolores Keane on the higher notes. And she's a master of inflection and ornamentation, fully capturing all of the emotional subtleties of her material.
She began with the antiwar ballad "Bonny Woodhall," singing with eyes closed and clutching the microphone stand, as Dunne provided a carefully constructed background with a damped-down solid-bodied electric guitar. Her first unaccompanied song was "The Rambling Irishman," dedicated to her onetime bandmate in the group Arcady, fiddler (and Burren owner) Tommy McCarthy, and at her invitation, the audience sang along heartily on the chorus. That was followed by a much sadder and quieter song of travel, "Sweet Inniscarra," where the catch in her voice conveyed all the pain of a man who comes home from a long journey to find that his beloved has died while he was away.
This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #102 (October / November 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription.
— Dan Willging (Denver, CO)
The Burren, Somerville, MA
May 8, 2002
She dedicated the pensive "My Lagan Love" to her late father, from whom she had learned it, and introduced the romantic "The Rigs of Rye" as "a song with a nice happy ending — a rare one for me!" Her captivating version of "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" combined verses from Irish and American sources, and the old murder ballad "The Two Sisters" became an uptempo, a cappella singalong.
Not all of her songs were traditional, although they all sounded that way. The stark, stunning tale of the "Tinkerman's Daughter" by Mick McConnell has been a highlight of Parsons' performances for many years, and her riveting interpretation did it full justice. "Clohinne Winds" was a modern, mysterious dream song from her days with the band The Loose Connections, on which Dunne spun off jazzy guitar runs. Parsons added a powerful arrangement of Mark Knopfler's antiwar song "Down With Bonaparte," the lyric set to a traditional air. Dunne also did a couple of sets of expeditiously flatpicked guitar instrumentals in the course of the evening.
Parsons finished up with another uptempo piece, "The Flower of Magherally O," and, after a quick bow, she and Dunne acknowledged the abundant applause with an encore of "Bramblethorn," a contemporary song by Sarah Daniels that expresses a quiet hope for peace. Once she was done, the background noise in the pub returned to its customary level. It was time to discuss not only last night's game and next weekend's plans, but also a memorable performance by one of Ireland's finest traditional singers.
© 2002 Dirty Linen ltd.