I Surrender…
Proof that there is a music genie, ready to grant my wishes, Over the Rhine was in town again recently (Saturday, November 5th). The Cincinnati-based band, fronted by the multi-talented husband and wife team of Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist, has performed here enough times now that its name should be a household word.
Playing in the Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky Center, the band came to the stage with no introduction – not that they needed one. It was a humble way to take the stage, and I liked it. No fanfare. No fireworks. No… AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Not necessary. We all knew what was coming. And, boy, did we ever get it.
Most of the songs they performed were off their latest album, The Long Surrender (otherwise noted), produced by Joe Henry. (He is a much-sought-after producer and highly revered musician in his own right, with a Louisville connection.) I quickly surrendered and have listened to this CD endlessly even BEFORE it was officially released. I know every word to every song, and it was all I could do to stop myself from belting them out. However, when I realized the audience had not bought tickets to listen to me try to imitate Karin, I got a glass of wine. And a second.
Karin’s voice is just the best. I’m not even going to try to get all flowery or use multiple adjectives – just ‘the best’ says it all. On Saturday, it seemed to sound even better than ever, so rich, with her expressions and phrasing so ‘her’. I just felt that she sounded… I don’t even know the words to use without cussing, but she was dang good.
The sound was as full as ever, with just four musicians on the stage: Linford on the piano and guitar; Karin on guitar; Nicholas Rudina on percussion and guitar and Jason Goforth on the steel lap guitar and harmonica, all of which came together for as much musical magic they could squeeze into our ears. And it felt good.
They opened with “The Laugh of Recognition” from their latest album. As I mentioned earlier, this album and I are kinda going steady, so it was like meeting your sweetie for a great meal – relaxed, knowing delicious things were to follow. And the delights kept coming. Am I getting corny? Too bad, it’s only gonna get worse. The bare and breathy, sexy tribute to Buddy Holly, “Rave On” followed. Damn, that’s a song-and-a-half.
Dedicating the next song, ‘Suitcase,” from 2007′s Discount Fireworks, to Lucy Wainwright Roche, their sweet, sometime opening act, must have been a friendly wink referring to Ms. Roche’s heavy travel schedule. She plays all over tarnation, so her suitcase is surely always packed and ready to hit the road. “I’m On A Roll” was next on the list (Trumpet Child, 2007). This song is such a one-of-a-kinder, both lyrically and melodically. It’s so cute and fun. But that whole album is crazy good.
Prefacing the verse-endowed “Infamous Love Song,” Linford said he’d heard Bob Dylan refuse to apologize for his long songs, and since Bob Dylan obviously knew what he was doing with a song or two, Linford decided that was a good policy to follow. So the love song comes to us with no apologies for its length and when you get it, you see it needs none. How can you say it all in fewer words? These songs touch something in all of us, recording moments we all see or experience for ourselves. “In Only God Can Save Us Now,” Karin recounts the nursing facility and patients where her mother now calls home. How many of us have or will face this situation? Seeing both the tragedy and comedy unfold before her when she visits, Karin writes of the lighter side to get her/us through.
After a long and apparently draining road trip, Linford wrote ”Latter Days” (Good Dog, Bad Dog, 2000). It is hauntingly familiar with its feeling of exhaustion and almost wanting to give up. Being a touring musician must sometimes feel like a traveling salesman peddling his wares. Every day is ‘show time’, whether you feel like it or not. Thank goodness, he still feels like creating new wares. Like the next song they played, as of yet unnamed. I’ve dubbed it “Sacred Ground,” which is repeated in the lyrics, so don’t go thinking I’m some genius or something. Wait a minute… This tells me there’s something coming on the OtR horizon, which is a thrill.
As I’m reading the set list, the flow of the songs is a thing of thoughtful beauty itself. Karin shared that the next song was written at a particular time in her life, which we’ve all had and gotten through in our own ways. “Jesus in New Orleans” (Ohio, 2003), speaks of our search for ourselves and the things we cling to to help us get there. Lord, these words reveal some familiar scars. Music therapy is real, folks.
In “Trouble” (Trumpet Child, 2007), Karin revealed she has a weakness for a man’s – OK! – Linford’s stubble. (So THAT’S why he sports the 5 o’clock shadow 24/7.) Unsolicited advice says: sell ALL Gillette stock today! It’s a great little song that shows the playfulness between the Mrs. and her Mr. The last song of the set, “All My Favorite People are Broken,” is a powerful description of the human condition. It starts out sounding almost old-fashioned, all light and piano-y, but I see that as a balance to the weight of the words. When you read the lyrics alone, prepare to have your breath taken away. The light and piano-y stuff is a welcome equalizer.
The first song of the encore was shared with Lucy. Then, a great and slow version of Bruce Springsteens’s “Hungry Heart,” followed by “Born” (Drunkard’s Prayer, 2005) and ending with “Drunkard’s Prayer” (Drunkard’s Prayer, 2005). That is one helluvanalbum, too. But, then, they all are, really.
And just like a “drunkard,” I always want more from the OtR stash of goodies, but I know they’ll return and I will once again surrender to whatever they have to give. And I always will.
Would you please indulge me for a minute while I scream? Thanks.
FPK YOU SO ROCK!!!
There. All better.
Now. Can I get an AMEN? I mean, really!
Really? FREE CONCERTS? EVERY MONTH?
Cutting edge music? REALLY?
OK, so the last Waterfront Wednesday [May 25th] was FABulous! The weather threatened, but arrived late enough that the show went on and everybody was safe!
Because of my “learning differences”, it took me a little while to find the new place, the Big Four Lawn. But, it turned out to be a great venue. Lots more space and easier to navigate. The big curvy bridge looks like an art piece, so that was cool.
The lineup for this show was killer! Flat out to-die-for!
First out, Harper Blynn. You should know them. FPK plays them. If you don’t, you will. I always turn up the volume when they play “Start All Over” from the self-titled EP. It’s a great song with beautifully rich harmonies. Keep your eyes [and ears] on this Brooklyn-based band. You heard ‘em here, folks.
And then there was Cabin! Hometown kids! YEAH! I must admit, at show time, I was a Cabin newbie. And after the show, a BIG Cabin fan! Not only does local music rest in that itty-bitty soft spot in my heart, but these guys are also REALLY good! They’ve been compared to Coldplay and U2 – both personal faves. That is some heavy-duty kick ass company. I love the song “I was Here” from the album Among the Rectangles and Changeable Parts. But the entire CD is super. Two words: buy it.
And now… May I present, Over the Rhine[OtR]? If you don’t know by now, I am an OtR junkie. And this was just the fix I needed. [Yes, I said it.]
It amazes me how the live show reproduces the beauty of the studio version. The purity is what comes through. It’s authentic. Not a glam job made up, beyond recognition, for the prom. It sounds the same any way you hear it. Consistent. It’s music you can count on to entertain and move you.
As you come to know all the songs on one album, and they become friends, it’s sometimes hard to start looking at another song list. Sorta like you’re leaving one for another. But once you learn the new songs, for instance on The Long Surrender [OtR's newest offering], you realize you’re just adding to the circle of friends. And you welcome them. With open arms.
This is one HELLUVA [love writing that] CD. Produced by the hip/cool/mega-talented Joe Henry in his California studio, this piece of gorgeouness is a marker in OtR’s much-deserved ascent into a heavenly hall of fame of Americana. Rubbin’ elbows with Mr. Henry and the players he assembled for the album, including, none other than Lucinda Williams [HELLO!] tell you something about the quality of their talent.
Most of the songs they played last week were off this new CD, but they threw in a little “Trouble” from The Trumpet Child, a thing of beauty as well. It was a shortened show, due to the weather, but it was a joy, nonetheless. The band looked like they were having a blast, too. As individual members took the spotlight for a solo, you could see their bandmates enjoying it as much as the audience.
Thanks, again to FPK for making this possible for all of us. Amen.
C’mon, boys! 
It’s a beautiful day on the banks of the Ohio, in Louisville (except for the tornado threats). Now, let’s just hope it stays nice and calm for WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday. Today’s tunes will be supplied by Harper Blynn, Cabin and Over the Rhine beginning at 5 pm. The location has been changed to the newly opened Big Four Lawn (near Tumbleweed on the River).
Research for my interview with Linford Detweiler [of Over the Rhine] led me to discover that a couple of the musicians, Jay Bellerose and Greg Leisz, on OtR’s new Joe Henry-produced album, The Long Surrender, also played on Steve Earle’s newest album. And that baby was produced by multi-awarded T. Bone Burnett. That is some big time elbow rubbin’!
This city is so ready for some fun and I think this is gonna be it! Hopefully, the winds calm down and the skies clear up. With all the musical talent appearing on stage this afternoon/evening, it’s bound to be a great show!
Slide on over to the Waterfront Wednesday where I’ll be rubbin’ elbows down on the river bank. Be safe.
I better post this before the weather changes!
One Monday morning, almost a year ago [May 17, 2010], Over the Rhine [OtR], the husband&wife-led band from Cincinnati, walked into the California production studio of multi-talented Joe Henry. They had arrived to undertake the creation of a new album. Little did they realize, at the time, they would be falling into “a week of a lifetime”, as Linford described it the other day during our interview.
Linford Detweiler, the husband part of OtR, told me the other day the team Joe Henry had assembled for the session, including Jay Bellerose/drums; David Piltch/bass; Greg Leisz/pedal steel & strings; Keefus Ciancia/keyboards; Patrick Warren/pump organ; Levon Henry/tenor sax; James Gilstrap/vocals; Niki Harris/vocals; Jean McClain/vocals; Lucinda Williams/vocals, became like a “great dance partner”, knowing the next right move to make – the dip and spin of it all. Understanding that the entire album was “choreographed” in a single work week – that’s right, Monday to Friday- is truly incredible. And, even more than that, all LIVE!
When the album, titled The Long Surrender, opens, we hear Karin Berquist’s, the wife part of OtR, admonitions in “The Laugh of Recognition”, her beautiful throat-full pleas for us to settle down and carry on. Her sincere encouragement to hold our heads up high as we start over touches a universal nerve for everyone who has had to reinvent themselves due to bumps in the road.
The themes that run throughout the album are life-spanning. But, we’re not getting a boudoir glimpse. Instead, it’s more a reflection of some private journey – where we’ve been, or what may be around the corner. You can see the bored teenage boys in “Rave On”, grow up and into to the Elvis-inspired hunks of burnin’ love in the sultry “The King Knows How”. Then as long-attached partners, spoken memories try to keep a relationship afloat in “Infamous Love Song”. The shaded humor in caring for an Aged P[arent] in “Only God Can Save Us Now” will resonate with many listeners, as Karin hints at her own impending decline. This is quite literally a “recording of a lifetime”.
Mr. Joe Henry must have been a matchmaker/shadchen, in a former life, as witnessed in his pairing of Karin and Lucinda Williams in “Undamned”. Linford said there wasn’t a dry eye in the studio when they finished singing together. Verklempt, indeed.
Most of the songs are Karin and Linford’s, together or individually. Two songs were collaborations with Joe and one was written by Kim Taylor. Ms. Taylor’s “Days Like This” is a personal favorite and Karin’s voice makes it a prayer of gratitude.
As you imagine a couple becomes one on the dance floor, so, too do the words and notes in these songs. It is hard to separate them, both leaning into the other to become one. But the words are so strong and eloquent, so able to be stand-alone poetry, prose, love letters. Then, there’s the music. An equal partner, no doubt.
Over the Rhine will grace the banks of the Ohio with its music tomorrow for WFPK’s next Waterfront Wednesday. It will be located on the waterfront near the Big Four Bridges. You’ll hear something beautiful. And that will be Over the Rhine, overlooking the Ohio.
You will rave on…
It’s great when you get the chance to see your favorite bands in concert and it’s uber great when you get to talk to one of them on the phone! I had the opportunity to speak to Linford Detweiler, of Over the Rhine [OtR], the other day. Linford and Karin Berquist are the couple at the core of the Cincinnati-based band, appearing this week on Waterfront Wednesday
(It’s been really intimidating to write about OtR because they are both such talented writers. But, my editor and friends have all basically told me to “GET OVER IT”! So, even though I’m not over it, here we go.)
The most interesting story, to me is the one behind the music. Where did the music come from? How did it start? Who fanned the flames of creativity?
Linford told me his earliest memory of a musical nature is one when he was sitting on his mother’s lap under a revival tent, listening to the music being played on stage. He was drawn to the sound of the trumpet. He wanted to reach out and touch the shiny brass with the pretty sounds. Trumpet Child?
His next musical memory is one when his mother was visiting a friend of hers. The woman had a little boy, as well, who played on their upright piano. Attracted to the beautiful sound it made, Linford reached up to touch a key. As he drew near, the boy struck his hand away. It was then, Linford jokingly said he learned that music was a “cut-throat” business! In the third grade, his father took him out to look at pianos. They decided on one and for $10, an upright became his own.
Linford made a cool observation that one’s earliest memories may be a clue to one’s vocation. His is obvious. He said that the black-and-white photographs for Over the Rhine’s new album were taken by Michael Wilson, and that one of his early memories was the black-and-white shadows that move across the bedroom walls at night as cars go by. We all have early memories like this, as well.
Linford went on to college to major in piano; Karin did so in voice. He told me when they first performed together in a small room in the Ohio school, there was a reaction, felt by both, that they could not forget. A chemical reaction? Certainly! And it has sparked over 20 years of memories.
The newest album from Over the Rhine, The Long Surrender, is beautiful. The universal themes that run throughout are life-spanning, but this ain’t no peep show. It’s more a reflection of everyone’s private journey, everyone’s memory – where we’ve been, maybe where we are, or, where we may be headed.
There’s much more to say about the album itself but now that we have had a bit of a glimpse behind some of the music, I’ll write more about the studio time, or, the “week of a lifetime,” as Linford put it, tomorrow.
In the meantime, bless yourself with Over the Rhine at Waterfront Wednesday on May 25.
OK! I lied! So, sue me! I told myself I wouldn’t get into the venue aspect of the local music scene. But, today, I must.
It’s a sad time for many of us…
Tonight is the LAST open mic at The Back Door in Mid-City Mall. For the past three and half years (or so), owner John Dant has given floor and air space for Dave Benson to host the world famous Back Door Open Mic Night. And tonight, it ends.
But, as it ends, it is the place of so many beginnings.
It’s been a warm, friendly, safe place for blossoming musicians to find their voice. Dave and the patrons embrace you. Like family. Whatever you do. However you sound. You have a place. They will listen and clap.
It’s also been a place for music veterans to stretch. Try out that new song. Change up an oldie. Pick with your buddies, just for fun. Not a gig. No pressure to to be “on”. Just us.
I came to The Back Door open mic less than a year ago. And I cannot express the personal joy I’ve found there. And I know I’m not alone.
So, if you’ve been to The world famous Back Door’s open mic night, it’s time to give back. Just a little. Please stop in tonight, if you can, sing a song, sit and listen, and raise your glass.
And, thank John and Dave.
Hope to see ya’ll next fall.
And, please, tip your bartenders!
Hey! Welcome to Louisville Bandstand – a blog about the live music scene in Louisville. My name is Gretchen Stein Henry and I will be posting weekly reports on the live music I’ve heard around town (this includes live local and national acts).
Notice I said “reporting” and not “reviewing”. Reviewing, to me, carries a certain weight of technical expertise, which I will tell you, upfront, I ain’t got! I mean, I have loved music all my life but that doesn’t give me the chops to criticize or christen. But, my ears know what they like and that’s what I’m gonna be blogging about.
OK, now that we got that cleared up…
If you know anything about the live music scene in Louisville, then you know how HUGE it is! I mean, there’s music 24/7/365! So, how am I gonna get this done? I don’t know. Maybe you’d like to be a Bandstand Buddy and send me your take on music I can’t get to to hear. Or send me pictures?
What I know is this town rocks and I want to talk about it.
Ready?
Let’s roll.
