On Tuesday, March 10th KUHF, the public news and arts NPR affiliated station of the University of Houston, welcomed folk singer/songwriter and native Texan, Kimberly M’Carver. I had a generous invitation to view the live broadcast of the featuring program, The Front Row. After her on-air performance I decided to attend the follow-up show at her usual venue, Anderson Fair, in Montrose. I convinced my sister to join me which is no easy task and it didn’t ensue without her informing me that she agreed because she had nothing better to do. “Shady” is the word she uses to describe the places I drag her to, but she always ends up enjoying herself. I would have to agree that Anderson Fair was old and looked a little shabby, but it wasn’t dilapidated or neglected in any way. In fact, I usually find places like that to be eclectic (my apologies for throwing in a worn-out adjective) with a history to be shared by the proud and long-time regulars. It had an attic and a living room. The living room contained a book case where one could take a book and leave one in its place. Lindsey pulled the 1988 consumer report and thumbed through finding 4 different kinds of baby diapers. It seems like there would be so many more brands in today’s reports. New Balance was then and probably still is the leading athletic shoe. A little sign hung above that read “Lending Library.” The room was painted with posters of past festivals and musicians, such as Joan Baez. We spoke to Ms. M’Carver’s guitarist, Wayne Wilerson, and were told that the place has been around since 1968 and that it is the longest standing live music venue in the state of Texas. It was about to fold twenty years ago but the locals decided to save it and turn it into a non-profit. So, now it opens Thursday to Saturday only at night with grandma in her rocking chair collecting at the door. The cover was $ 10.

After touring the place we sat down front and center as they played a song called “When I Hear Trains.” The lyrics allude to her speculating as she watches people boarding and sings, “I wonder whose leaving and who’s left behind.” It was a five piece band which I didn’t expect considering it was simply her and her guitarist and backing vocalist, Eric Corb, present for the radio segment. The stage was small, almost too small for the five of them. Hanging over the black curtain drapery behind the drummer was a Texas flag. There were a few strings of star-shaped Christmas lights thrown around the unfinished ceiling planks like T P’d toilet paper. She has been playing at this venue since 1994 and now comes back about twice a year.

Next they performed “Squeeze Inn,” a song I was privileged to hear previously at the broadcast. She told me that the Squeeze Inn was a place in downtown Dallas where her parents used to go dancing on the weekends. She remembers it as a “laid back place with beer, BBQ, and kids running around.” Corb took a guitar solo during this number and there was plenty more where that came from for the rest of the show. The drummer sat quietly minding his own business, as drummers do, and for the most part played with brushes which means he was probably using a wooden snare. When he used sticks it was usually for a song with a constant cymbal strike or a tap on the edge of the drum.

They played “This Cold Night” off her second album, Inherited Road. It was fitting to the actual night as we ran in from the cold and the rain when we arrived. She kept saying that she was sick from the weather and that her voice was cutting in and out but I loved her voice and told her that I couldn’t imagine it sounding any better. She actually grew up listening to pop and rock. She likes Fleetwood Mac and James Taylor and expressed her desire to see James Taylor in concert. In her early to mid-twenties was when she started listening to artists like Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, and Dwight Yoakum. People have told her that she sounds like Emmylou and Dolly Parton. Now she likes listening to alternative and rock. She likes The White Stripes and specifically Jack White. I told her that I was surprised because, listening to her original music, I couldn’t imagine her enjoying other styles. She replied by saying, “Well, you do what you do best.”

They played a new song called “Redemption.” Corb was bending with the foot peddle making it sound as though there was a steel guitar in the mix. “Road Inherited” was a story about her grandfather and began with a sweet little humming intro. “Death and Texas” off of her latest album, Cross the Danger Line, presented us with an upbeat jam again starring Eric and his blue Verbier guitar. She wanted to name her album after the song title but had second thoughts and decided to go with the formerly mentioned. She played another new song called “It Never Gets Easy” so I made a point to ask if she had a new album in the works. She has recorded all three of her albums in Nashville and thinks there might be a return trip for a fresh album; however, there are no stone set plans.

She did a little introduction of her band after “It Never Gets Easy.” We’ve already met her guitar players Eric Corb and Wayne Wilkerson and, seeing as I missed her mention the drummer, the only new person to point out is her bass player, Richard Dickie. She has been a songwriter since 1988 and I don’t know if these are the guys who have accompanied her all the way. She did say that she has collaborated with Jim Lauderdale, an American songwriter who has composed for other artists, one being Ms. M’Carver’s influential, Dwight Yoakum. He has played on her albums and she hopes to join forces with him again.

They announced that Eric had too much of a “Houston weather voice” to do his solo and he thanked us for being sad about it when we all awed. We stuck around for a few more, one a fun little acoustic upstroke, but when Lindsey got restless and started nudging me I could tell that it was time to go. Kimberly must have played almost 30 songs, which is what I like about small unreputable shows. Even if you see a show at the local hot spots like the House of Blues or the Meridian you’re lucky to get twenty songs out of it. Sometimes it will be because the artist or group only has one album and they will play their 10 to 12 tracks and use a lot more banter as filler. That’s not always the case though as it happens at really big shows that people pay a lot of money to go see. For instance, Tom Petty played 16 songs at his performance at The Woodlands Pavilion last year. So, while she was still playing we scooted out saying goodbye to all the nice folks who ran the place and grandma who made sure to invite us back.

below please find the song titles to part but not all of the setlist

1. When I Hear Trains
2. Squeeze Inn
3. Whistle Down the Wind
4. Show Me the Stars
5. This Cold Night
6. Redemption
7. Road Inherited
8. Death and Texas
9. Santa Fe
10. It Never Gets Easy

Last week I posted a song and a picture along with a heads up that a Lenka concert review would be coming soon. Well, today I have to disclose the bad news. I missed Lenka. I could not, for the life of me, locate the charger to the GPS that my dad so thoughtfully gave me for Christmas so I decided that I had been to the House of Blues enough times and that I could find it on my own. Therefore, rather than going back for a Google map, I simply headed toward downtown. I should have known not to take that risk.

All I could do once I was lost was drive around until I saw the neon blue sign and make that wide right hand turn when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that I was about to pass it. By the time I got there I suspected that she had probably already finished. When I arrived I had to purchase my ticket and I stood behind a guy talking about The Ting Tings concert that was held there a few months ago. I wanted to say, “Hey man, I was at that show” but I really didn’t need to butt in.

I asked the girl at the entrance beer tub if I did, in fact, miss Lenka’s performance and she replied with a, “Well, if that’s who that was then yes.” I found myself smirking because, not only did she give me a funny answer, but she also said it in a tone that reminded me of Linda from the show Becker. In case you’re not familiar, Linda played Ted Danson’s air-headed nurses aid.

So, I shopped the merchandise for a while as they played The Beatles “The News” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” between sets. Justin Nozuka appeared in a simple white wife-beater and began with “Down in a Cold Dirty Well” from his debut album, Holly. While listening to this song I figured he may have been influenced by Bill Wither’s as it reminded me of Bill’s “Ain’t No Sunshine.” I kid you not, two songs later he was doing an “Ain’t No Sunshine” cover. I freakin’ hear this song covered way too much! It is kind of fun to hear it done in different ways though. There is a description I like to use from time to time that I call ‘vocal gymnastics’ and it definitely applies to Justin and the way he works his nice falsetto into his rapid and numerous changing of intervals.

The energy was there, not just from Justin but from Missy Higgins as well. It was the first night of their tour together and I presume that is why it was so great. “Golden Train” introduced the keyboard and Mark Pellizzer, Justin’s band mate. Acknowledgment for the bass goes to Anthony Lavdanski and the Drums to Alex Tanas. Anthony and Alex also supply backing vocals. The guys have been together for two years.

They played a song called “Be Back Soon” and, unfamiliar as I was to the album, I initially heard another cover. Beginning merely with Justin’s acoustic guitar the first three chords were that of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” From my guitar attempting days I remember those in Tablature as open-3-6 on the A and D strings. You can poke fun if you want to but beginners have to start somewhere.

He played his single, “After Tonight,” a song that tells the simple story of a man asking his girlfriend to come away with him promising that, if she does, she will no longer have to dream of heaven. Next, he introduced his song “Save Him” as a song written from the perspective of two men living in an apartment building and witnessing an abusive and fatal relationship going on close by. I usually shy away from this issue because I feel that several cases include an element of attention-begging by those who cry wolf, so to speak. Therefore, I was nervous when the song started but, after hearing it in its entirety, I can assure you that this song depicts the real thing. Both parties struggle and both parties destruct. At the end of the long haul she dies and he dies; the victim and the abuser; a homicide and a suicide. The song was performed by Justin and Mark, his guitarist, with so much passion that I have to wonder if the two of them were the witnesses. Their shared hand shake following the song only made my assumption stronger.

He soloed on a song called “Oh Momma” in which he asks his mom to hold him closer and tells her how much he loves her and how he couldn’t live without her. What a mamma’s boy! Lastly, they played “Criminal” and with a little wave and a “have a good night” that was it.

1. Down in a Cold Dirty Well
2. Don’t Listen To a Word You’ve Heard
3. Golden Train
4. Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Wither’s cover)
5. Be Back Soon
6. Mr. Therapy Man
7. Supposed To Grow Old
8. After Tonight
9. I’m In Peace
10. Save Him
11. Oh Momma
12. Criminal

With the next intermission came the return of The Beatles songs. During the assembly of Missy’s equipment we heard the following:

All You Need Is Love
Hey Jude
Revolution
Strawberry Fields

Listening to all these songs triggered the thought that I may never get my DVD of “Across the Universe” back. The 1960’s story built around The Beatles tunes and very creatively directed by Julie Taymor. I lent it to a friend months ago and you know how that goes.

Then they switched to the Rolling Stones:

You Can’t Always Get What You Want
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Sympathy for the Devil

The Australian singer-songwriter, in her high-wasted pencil skirt and cap-sleeved blouse, at last materialized and began with “Don’t Ever” from her debut album, The Sound of White, from 2004. Unaided by her band mates, she incorporated a little whistling to accompany her voice and her guitar. Then she transitioned to the piano for a nice hand over hand execution of “All for Believing.”

Unlike Justin, she wasn’t shy about addressing the crowd. She had fun saying how much she was enjoying “Heee-you-ston” as she had the pleasure of spending a few days in town prior to the tour kick-off. They had been to The Menil Collection, an art gallery in the Montrose area, earlier that day and their cab driver was not the first to ask them what kind of music they played. So, they came up with the definitive answer of ‘coffee house.’

During her song “Angela” she played a melodica. The melodica is a fascinating instrument, strangely reminiscent of a harmonica, but comprised of a hand held keyboard and a mouthpiece. Blowing into the mouthpiece produces the sound facilitated by the keys that are plucked. She returned to the piano for “Warm Whispers” and got so entrenched in her own performance that she was standing out of her piano stool. She presented the next two songs solely, the later of which was “Forgive Me.” Her forerunning explanation of this song was that she wrote it like an apology letter by an unfaithful man to his family. She is often captivated by the possibility of probing into other individual’s ‘mind-stances’ and, with this one, she attempted to be the man who was truly sorry.

“Secret” had a bit of a funk-folk sound to it and was implemented with a little Steel guitar. As if we needed more instrumental variety, the banjo launched the next song, “Going North.” I haven’t mentioned her sophomore album so I would like to inform you now that this song is off of her second studio album, On a Clear Night, released in 2007.

She did a cover of a Patty Griffith song called “Moses.” It’s a song that she has loved ever since she was a little girl and she wanted to perform a “coffee house rocked up” version of it for us. Missy is distinct from her peers in that her accent is apparent when she sings. With this song she especially pronounced “Roses” and “Moses” the way an Aussie would. With an R-sound rounding out the O’s, if you know what I mean.

Nearing the end of her set she felt it was necessary to include a little crowd interaction with her song “Peachy.” She politely asked for a little clap along and joked that “everyone loves audience participation, right?” With that statement, she and her band began the clap. Her band consists of Ben on guitar, David on bass, and Felix on drums. I didn’t catch their last names. She ended with one of her more well-known singles, “Steer,” a song about discovering the freedom inside of you.

Before I forget, I wanted to make a point to mention that Missy is an adorable and charming young lady. I met another frequent concert-goer while at the show that caught me taking notes and was concerned. He said that he had seen Justin Nozuka before without an electric guitarist and he thought that the rawness of it was much better. That’s what started our conversation. I told Mr. so and so not to worry because I rarely say bad things. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to recall his name. I want to say David? Oh well. Whoever you are, you have my website. Feel free to make comments. I’m sure you’re happy to find that my stories are really just surveillances of the evening’s episodes rather than critiques.

1. Don’t Ever
2. All for Believing
3. Wrong Girl
4. Angela
5. Ten Days
6. 100 Round the Bends
7. Warm Whispers
8. Nightminds
9. Forgive Me
10. Secret
11. Going North
12. Moses (Patty Griffith cover)
13. Peachy
14. This Is How It Goes
15. Where I Stood
16. Steer