Country music, love it or leave it, is a open
book of human emotion turned to the chapter on love. Unabashed
love, unrequited love, unattainable love, undesired love,
unfinished love, under-the-rearview-mirror love — it’s
all there, masked within shuffles and waltzes, boogies and ballads,
two-steps and swing. The king (and queen, in this scenario) of the
open-heart renderings in country music is the duet. We’ve had
Johnny and June, Tammy and George, Dolly and Porter, Roy and Dale:
The history of country music is filled with male/female duets of
great distinction. Even the 2003 Sheryl Crow/Kid Rock Top 40 song
“The Picture” easily falls into the category of modern
country classics. Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell, the newest
couple to ride the duo train to the land of rocky relationships,
arrive on Begonias, a Nashville-produced disc of mostly self-penned duets.
Cary began her career in alt-country band Whiskeytown, serving as
the group’s fiddle player and singing foil to future pop
star, Ryan Adams. In the years since Whiskeytown, she has released
two solo albums and worked with North Carolina’s hippest
three-girl singing group, Tres Chicas. Cockrell hangs with the “new country
music that likes old country music” group roughly lumped
under the alt-country label. Aptly armed with a beautifully
warbling tenor and loaded with enough heartache songs to fill many
a beer with tears, Cockrell continues to make good his vow
“to put the hurt back into country.” The two North
Carolina transplants (both are Midwest natives) have been friends
for years, meeting on Sunday afternoons to write songs, muse over music, and dream of making a record of duets.
When the opportunity to record came, the singing/songwriting team
headed for Nashville to find players and the feel they believed that
the project needed. Enlisting the help of producer Brad Jones, along
with studio musicians thrilled to play on a real old-fashioned
recording session during which players performed live in the same room,
Cary and Cockrell found the space to merge their vocal magic, fueling
the mystical chemistry that makes certain singing couples great. Their Springfield stop is right after Omaha
and before Chicago, near the end of the month-long road trip that
has taken the duo to many of the major alt-country venues across
the country.
Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell double the fun
at the Underground City Tavern, in Springfield Hilton, at 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 15 with opening and backing band Roman Candles.
Gee whiz, how unlucky can a feller get? Two
of my most favorite bands in the whole wide world on the same bill,
and I’ve gotta play in Urbana that night. At least you can go enjoy the
rumblings of the Tarbox Ramblers and Black Magic Johnson at the
Underground City Tavern (700 E. Adams St., 217-789-1530, tickets at
Recycled Records) on Nov. 12 — the show starts around 9 p.m.
Tarbox, as Sangamon Valley Roots Revival impresario Sean Burns
likes to say, is something like Led Zeppelin unplugged. Of course,
there’s no sexually swaggering Robert Plant guy, but the
ringleted warbler really did once sing with the Ramblers after
hearing of their prowess with raunchy old blues songs.
Calling all
outrageously hilarious moms! Report to the Funny Bone Comedy Club
(2937 W. White Oaks Dr., 217-391-5653) on Wednesday, Nov. 16 to
audition for Nick at Nite’s Search
for the Funniest Mom in America.
Registration takes place 5:30-6:30 p.m., and the auditions run 7-9
p.m. Finalists from the nationwide contest will compete on the air
for $50,000 and the chance to develop a show for Nick at Nite. But
who’ll watch the kids while the kids are watching you?
Despite just having
read a press kit for the Ghettobillies, the band playing Friday and
Saturday at Marly’s (9 S.W. Old State Capitol Plaza,
217-522-2280), I am not quite sure what the band is. Lyrics such
“You’ll be glad when our rock & roll foot is up
your ass” are intriguing yet a bit baffling. Originally a
bluegrass trio from the Flint/Detroit area, the Ghettobillies are
now based in Chicago and classify themselves as a
disco/power-pop/classic-rock band. For you local-interest-leaning
listeners, the group’s latest CD, Cockpit, was recorded and
mixed by Springfield native Dan Dietrich at his Wall to Wall
Studios in Chicago.
This weekend at the
Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Music Festival in the Crowne
Plaza, check out some of the best bluegrass players in the world,
including Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson, Dry Branch Fire Squad, and
Cherryholmes. The three-day festival hosts a 24-hour picking area,
open stage, workshops, vendors — basically a hotel full of
all things related to bluegrass music. Go to
www.bluegrassmidwest.com or call 217-243-3159 for more information.
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2005.
