Bring on the crow; I'm ready to eat a big helping.
The last time I went to an Iris DeMent concert -- February 1997 at Liberty Hall -- I said her "voice can grate across the eardrums like fingers on a chalkboard."
Well, I'm taking that back based on Friday night's West Side Folk fund-raising concert.
Perhaps it was the intimacy of the smaller venue -- St. Margaret's Episcopal Church -- or the absence of her three-piece backup band, The Troublemakers, that made her five-song set rivetingly earnest. DeMent voice's is unique, a notch too high on the nasal barometer for some folks, but her phrasing and emotional delivery are impeccable.
DeMent opened with the lyrical "Sweet Is the Melody," followed by "The Way I Should" and the oozing-with-pain "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day." Winding up the set were "Let the Mystery Be" -- perhaps a dig at the recent evolution flap? -- and "Our Town," her most-recognized song thanks to the TV series "Northern Exposure."
Lawrence's Billy Ebeling delivered a set of blues-based songs backed by his own guitar picking, slide action and harmonica huffing. He grabbed the audience with "Don't Look Away," a thoughtful composition that weaves the Southern anthem "Dixie" with a plea to not look away from the world's injustices. Ebeling is quickly gaining a following and will return to West Side Folk in October to open for Vance Gilbert.
Pamela Bruner showed off her mastery of the harp and brought some audience members to tears with "Like She Was," about the aging of loved ones. She ended with a serenade, "Haiku Moon," an original piece written for her guitarist-husband, Rick Bruner, who provided backup percussion on a single drum.
Greg Allen stirred up the mix with a series of country-, blues- and jazz-flavored songs that ran from melancholy to quirky and quick-paced. The hands-down favorite was the jump-and-jivy "Dance, Dance, Dance."
Kathy and Steve Peters rounded out the concert with their traditional, old-timey folk music that reflected the influence of the Carter family.
-- Jan Biles' phone message number is 832-7146. Her e-mail address is jbiles@ljworld.com.
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