what can i say? two of my favorite local performers; joe manning and cheyenne marie mize performing on the same bill has to equal a wonderful evening of music. and it did, even topping my already high expectations.
when an evening in a simple, yet elegant old chuch with rich, warm acoustics begins with the vocals of joe manning, glen detinger, nathan salsburg as the “obscure hansome brothers” delivering classic covers (old gospel, tom waits and warren zevon) and selected original songs, you know you’re off to a good start. had the show ended after their set, it would have been more than worth my time and the minimal cover charge.
but end, it did not. in fact, it was just a perfect beginning…
take three beautiful women (maiden radio; cheyenne marie mize, joan shelley, julia purcell) with great individual voices, add in wonderful two & three part harmonies, guitars, violins, banjos and some traditional american music (both original and covers) and the only sensible thing to do is just sit back and let the experience wash over you. and that’s exactly what the quiet, yet apprectative crowd did.
the gathering was to celebrate the release of maiden radio’s self titled first record, and yes, i mean “record,” it was released only on vinyl (you also received a “download code” with the purchase). cheyenne, joan and julia played a nice mix of songs from the new record, a few traditional covers and one or two originals that didn’t make it onto the record.
during the set, they often swapped lead vocals, joined together on two and three part harmonies, traded instruments and told a story or two, often joking about julia’s pregnancy and the fact that she could possibly deliver at any moment. it was obvious that they were having a good time and enjoying themselves, the evening and the attentive audience.
the evening was capped by the joe, glen and nathan joining the ladies for the last couple of songs and closing out the show with a quietly stunning version of stephen foster’s “hard times.”
these type of small, intimate shows are my favorite, and to me, this is what music is and should be about. artists doing what they feel, what they love… in a roomful of like-minded souls that want to hear and feel it with them. personally, i’ll take a show like this over U2 or the like in some corporately named mega arena any day.
you can buy maiden radio’s record @: maiden radio
the obscure handsome brothers
maiden radio
what we need is music 