What a spellbinder Linda Kaye is.
Her Lonesome Spur set with Danny Harvey at the Texas Rockabilly Revival last May was a duo-fied roots-rockin' affair pushed by her kick-suitcase and rhythm strummin', supercharged by Dannny's go-for-it guitar pickin', and topped off beautifully by Lynda's contralto voice, all wrapped in poise and sparkle.
For her gig at NAMM Sunday afternoon, she mostly turned to her love of bittersweet ballads and the wistful mood of classic country songbirds like Patsy Cline – and she brought us a real treat in the form of the biggest band appearing on the Kim Falcon Stage all week, a quintet augmenting the usual bass-drums-n-guitar with the unusual choice of viola and trombone. That takes us into the realm of careful arrangements, and it was the care the whole group took with the music that cast a sweet spell over the room.
Though the group hadn't performed publicly before (I don't believe any play with Lynda regularly), each player seemed an inspired choice. The supple rhythm section of Dave Raven on drums and Jonathan Schwarz on bass (keyed on Lynda's very acoustic-sounding strummed Roundup) pushed when needed, created a relaxed pillow of subtle groove when called for, and left plenty of space for the music to breathe. (Violist Tom Lea assisted with hand-held percussion.)
When I first saw guitarist Woody Aplanalp, he was seated buddha-style on the stage, calmly cradling his "Tikicaster" and looking over the charts and wearing a beatific smile. Such a meditative approach to music-making has to yield dividends, and indeed his sensitive, spare, just-right guitar lay at the center of these arrangements. I think of certain other players when I hear Woody, but there's no sense in making comparisons: he has his own very distinctive style, and a range of tones that fit this material to a tee. (All of which make me curious about his own musical adventures.)
Husband-and-wife Tom and Elizabeth Lea (viola/percussion and trombone respectively) put the finishing touches on these country sound sculptures with their own fluid, restrained, just-right playing – and beautiful tone from both.
I think the fact that the band was not, shall we say, over-rehearsed, lent a hint of risk to the set: what we heard was six experienced, sensitive musicians paying complete attention to the song, each other, and the musical content of the moment. We all got to go along for the ride with them, and enjoy their success in pulling it all together. It's not often we're really present at the moment of creation, but that's the sense I had during Lynda's set.
No question the audience felt the vibe: there were nothing but dreamy smiles all round as Lynda and company took us, through deceptively simply songs, to a place I'd have to call Honky Tonk Cabaret.
And how about Woody's wild and wacky Tikicaster? I talked with him a little about the guitar; it's a recently-built custom-carved beast of his own devise, triple-pickupped as shown, and incorporating a Fernandes sustainer circuit which he used to good effect to create shimmering legato pads beneath and around his country-tinged lead and chord melody rhythms. Gotta love it when a guitarist goes his own way, both musically and in his instrument.
I'd like to hear Lynda work more in this vein, with players like this so cooperatively serving the song. There's some magic here!
Lynda Kay Audio
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