Carrie Rodriguez--Live in Sublime

CARRIE RODRIGUEZ In Concert

Iron Horse Music Hall

Northampton, MA

June 16, 2011

What’s so special about Carrie Rodriguez? Let’s see, she writes great songs, plays fiddle like a woman possessed, is drop-dead gorgeous, and has a voice that makes your knees knock. Other than that, she’s practically a charity case.

I have had enjoyed Rodriguez’s albums for several years now, but they left me unprepared for the dynamism of her live show. In the studio she sounds a tad little girlish, but I can assure you--as one of her lyrics puts it--she’s “a grown woman.” So grown that by the time she polished off “Big Love,” “What Kind of Love is This?” and “Got Your Name on It,” I needed a cold shower. All three songs are heavily produced on Rodriguez’s studio recordings, but in concert she slows them down and sings in a sultry voice that’s more like a torchy jazz singer than a country girl. The effect is stunning. When Rodriguez closes her eyes and cranes her neck, the feel is that of a bolero. Also surprising is just how good she is on the fiddle. That’s the instrument she played when she was discovered in Chip Taylor’s backup band, but Rodriguez does more than just fill in the instrumental spaces. Her traveling partner, Luke Jacobs, laid down acoustic, electric, and peddle steel guitar licks that freed Rodriguez to tackle her fiddle with verve and gusto. She was equally adroit on longneck mandolin and the mandobird, the latter an electric mandolin. Another thing that one hears live that isn’t always obvious on her records is a distinct Appalachian flair that makes some of the instrumental breakouts sound more Tennessee than Texas.

There were, simply, no slips, dips, or low spots in her 90-minute show. Rodriguez was in complete control as she changed moods from sexy to poignant, as she did when she sang “Seven Angels on a Bicycle,” her remembrance of a friend killed while riding his bike in New York City. She changed focus several other times as well, and nailed a version of the Hank Williams chestnut “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die.” She closed with a song her great aunt, Ava Garza, recorded in the 1950s “La Puñalada Trapera.” Add Latina torch singer to Rodriguez’s many talents. Like I said, practically a charity case. If Carrie Rodriguez is playing anywhere near you, clear your calendar and catch her live. The recordings are fine, but live is sublime.

Alas, the same cannot be said for the evening’s warm-up act, Brooke Brown Saracino. She’s young and I hate to be uncharitable, but her voice is odd, she doesn’t articulate, her songs are weak, and her guitar playing weaker still. Give her credit for having the moxie to mount the stage, but we can only hope she’s not planning on making her living in music.