Concert Review: Radney Foster at Natasha's Bistro & Bar - Lexington, KY

Radney Foster's solo acoustic tour in support of his new album Unplugged & Lonesome: Del Rio, Texas Revisited made a stop in Lexington, Kentucky two Thursdays ago on November 1st, playing to a small but lively audience at Natasha's Bistro and Bar. Foster tasted mainstream country success with country-rock duo Foster and Lloyd in the late eighties and early nineties, and after the duo's final album (well, for twenty years anyway), released his solo country debut, Del Rio, Texas 1959 in September of 1992, the album's title originating from Foster's own date and place of birth. Spawning three top-twenty singles (including the song he's probably most known for, "Nobody Wins," which peaked at number two), the album has endured through the years as a bonafide honkytonk classic. To meet the demands of fans asking to purchase the now out-of-print album after shows, Foster decided to not only re-release the album, but completely re-work and rearrange it as a more somber, bluegrassy affair, he and the musicians recording live and in-the-round in the studio. Thus, Unplugged & Lonesome was born.

Based on videos on Youtube and various articles I'd read about Foster's solo shows, I was looking forward to hearing one of my favorite songwriters discuss the backstory and process behind the writing of some of his most beloved pieces of work. He certainly did not disappoint in that regard; Foster is a storyteller at heart. At some point between delicious pints of Lexington's own West Sixth IPA, I decided to start jotting down a few notes, including several terrific quotes taken (mostly) verbatim from Foster's pre-song blurbs. Natasha's is a wonderful venue to experience a show performed by just a man and his guitar, even moreso when it's a master of the craft such as Mr. Foster. Between the music and the stories and the beer and the atmosphere, it was certainly a night to remember.

Louisiana Blue (new music video)

Don't Say Goodbye

Both of these tracks are on the original Del Rio and on Revisited. At this point I hadn't started jotting anything down yet. What I did learn was that most people in the small crowd were indeed Radney Foster fans, singing along and applauding and shouting after each tune.

Just Call Me Lonesome

Foster, speaking at the end of the song: "I stole that lick from Johnny Cash."

Raining On Sunday

A track co-written by Foster that Keith Urban famously recorded and took to #3 on the charts. Foster said Urban's decision to record it was good timing as his wife had recently told him, "We need a new kitchen." As he introduced the song, the Texas troubadour delivered one of his greatest lines of the night: "With all due respect to Mr. Urban, this is the West Texas version right here."

Me and John R.

Regarding how the idea for this song came about, Foster stated that someone said the words to the first line  ("Me and John R. got nothing to lose") and it took off from there. It is the only new song that was recorded for Unplugged and Lonesome.

It was at this point in the show that I also jotted down how precise and pristine Foster's guitar playing was. It was quite obvious he's been at this singing-songwriting-guitar playing thing for a good while.

Half of My Mistakes (live acoustic video by MusicFog)

Introducing the song, joking with the crowd: "I can tell y'all have made a lot fewer mistakes than I have, dressed as you are and sitting in this fine establishment eating a good meal." That may have been true for some people in the audience, but everyone can relate with this line toward the end of the song: "Yea, half the good things in my life came from half of my mistakes."

I'm In

Another one of Foster's co-writes that was recorded and taken to #2 on the charts by Keith Urban. In another line-of-the-night contender, Foster stated that one time he was speaking with Mr. Urban's wife and -- pausing to let the moment sink in for the audience -- he said, "Nicole Kidman told me my song was sexy." Someone from the audience shouted, "She's right!" It turns out that Urban and Kidman were driving around in Australia listening to Urban's iPod on shuffle when "I'm In" came on and Kidman advised the guitar maestro something to the effect of, "That song is sexy. You should probably record that one." It being one of Urban's "favorite Radney Foster songs," he heeded those wise words much to everyone's benefit.

Went For A Ride

This being my favorite Foster song, I recorded the performance with my iPhone. Here are some of things he said about it:
-It's written about a real guy in history who was born a slave in Tennessee and went on to become a Buffalo Soldier for the 10th cavalry at Fort Clark, Texas near Foster's hometown of Del Rio.
-He got so good at riding and shooting that he started playing at little rodeo exhibitions all over the West.
-He hooked up with Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, and others, and was part of Cody's famous western circus show.
-Supposedly he's the guy that taught Annie Oakley how to shoot at a target while riding a horse.
-As Buffalo Bill's Western Show toured over in Europe, this gentleman was one of the first people to go up the Eiffel Tower. He also got a medal from Queen Victoria.
-Foster: "But if you know anything about rodeoing, you know one thing, and that is it's a young man's game. It's hard on your body. So after all the rodeoing was done, he still needed a job. So he moved to Nashville, Tennessee and got a job as a Pullman porter. And I thought, Man, what a life! I figured it deserved a song."
-Foster's website tells that the song is about a cowboy named Nat Love and is told from the perspective of one of his running buddies. For more information on Nat Love, check out his Wikipedia entry.

After playing "Went For A Ride" Foster said, "You're not supposed to play two ballads in a row because everyone falls asleep." Of course, he did anyway, and of course, no one fell asleep.

Easier Said Than Done

Foster stated that he had someone tell him once, "Man, until you played this acoustic I didn't realize how much of a downer it was." Being about the hard road of forgiveness and trying to right the ship after infidelity in a relationship, it most certainly is. And it sounded fantastic.

Angel Flight (music video)

Foster: "This song has literally changed my life. It's just hard to describe. We really did our best to tell the story without being political in any way." I would certainly say they succeeded; the song is powerful no matter your political affiliation. It is about the flight that brings soldiers who have fallen on the field of battle back home to their resting place.

Texas in 1880 (the classic music video)

Before launching into this song Foster shared a story about telling his parents he wanted to play music for a living. My memory is hazy here, but I believe he said he woke them up in the middle of the night to tell them but the words would not come out. Foster says of his mother: "She thought I'd either gotten a girl pregnant or was trying to come out of the closet." The most enlightening thing he says about the song, though, is that it's not really about the rodeo, it's about dreamers. And that makes perfect sense. Based on the lyric "Sometimes you make eight, sometimes you hit dirt/ Go on a pin another number to the back of my shirt," I've always thought the song was great metaphor for never giving up despite the trials life may hurl your way. Turns out, I guess that was kind of right. This is my favorite Foster and Lloyd song.

At this point Foster walked off the stage to cheers, only to return mere seconds later for his encore. "I'm a cheap date," he said. "Real easy."

A Little Reival

After playing this song from his latest solo album, Foster acknowledged two people close to the stage who'd apparently been requesting a couple songs all night. "I'll play both of them," he said.

Closing Time

Only a simple introduction was needed: "This is a drinking song."

Godspeed (live video featuring Jerry Douglas on dobro)

"For those of you young enough, you don't know what a cassette is..." Foster began. He wrote this song for his son when he and his wife were going through a messy divorce, so it's obviously very personal. He put it on cassette and gave it to his son, very young at the time, as a gift. "I think sometimes God gives you a song, certain ones anyway, to humble you," he said. The Dixie Chicks later recorded the song for one of their albums. You can find more on the background behind it, including a story about when the Dixie Chicks cut the track, here.

As expected, it was a great show. Though he may have peaked commercially years ago, in today's mainstream music landscape, that unfortunately says more about an artist's age than it does about his art. If you ask me, we need the presence of a few more gray-haired sages on the country radio waves. It's clear that between touring, recording, producing, and reviving Foster and Lloyd, Foster's still staying busy and still at the height of his creative powers. At a little bar two Thursdays ago in Lexington, he certainly proved that to be true.

Only time will reveal the stories Radney Foster still has left to tell. And we would all be blessed to hear them.

The Avett Brothers w/ Jessica Lea Mayfield – 10/27/11 Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY

If memory serves me correctly, I’ve seen the Avett Brothers in concert five times. Each show has been a wonderful experience, but I’d have to say my favorite was in 2007 at the now defunct venue/dive bar called The Dame in Lexington, KY. The Dame, a former touchstone of the Lexington music community, was part of a class of smaller venues country-wide that the brothers used to play more frequently before their fanbase grew exponentially with the release of their last studio album I and Love and You in 2009. That exponential growth was evidenced by their show at Rupp Arena last Thursday evening. A man, who I believe said he was the owner of Rupp Arena, came out and talked to fans before the show started and said that they had sold about 5,000 tickets, though it felt to me like more than that. Regardless of the final tally, this concert confirmed that no matter what size the venue, the typical Avett Brothers energy and passion has certainly not been lost and, if anything, the group seems almost more inspired and excited than it’s ever been.

Jesssica Lea Mayfield was the opener, and though Rupp probably isn’t the best venue for a simple performance by a girl playing sad country songs accompanied only by her acoustic guitar, I thought she did a great job. I heard some people say that all of her songs sounded the same, but it’s hard to pick up on the nuances of every song (especially songs you’ve never heard before) in a big venue with no added instrumentation and nobody singing harmony. That is, of course, unless you count the brothers Avett, Scott and Seth, obviously huge fans of Mayfield,who came out with her on the very first song to sing harmony with her (on her mic) on the chorus of “For Today.” Avett devotees will already know that the band does a glorious cover of this great song that has made the rounds on Youtube and has nearly a million views. I had suspected they might come out and do the song with her but had no idea it’d be the very first one. There was an added grace to the moment as the brothers did not speak a single word to the crowd, and when the song was over they quietly exited the stage.

The brothers returned after Mayfield finished her set with cellist extraordinaire Joe Kwon and a replacement for Bob Crawford on bass; unfortunately Crawford has been unable to attend a string of shows due to health issues his daughter has been facing. Although Bob was missed, his replacement filled in nicely. The group began their set surprisingly with the slow opening chords of “Salina” from the album Emotionalism, followed by “And It Spread” and it’s rollicking, shouty chorus from the album I and Love and You. They played mostly songs from these two albums, including crowd favorites “Will You Return”, “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”, “Shame”, “Go To Sleep”, and “I and Love and You .” The energy was contagious from the get go, with “Salina” morphing into a sing-a-long that name drops cities from across the country, including a favorite moment for Southern audiences when Scott sings “New York, quit calling, New York leave me be.” During the “la-las” (that went on for many minutes longer than the album version, and were a blast) at the end of “Go To Sleep”, the brothers played to the crowd, Scott saying “I hear you singing” and Seth saying “Y’all sound beautiful!” to the applause and shouting and continued singing-along of the Rupp Arena crowd.

This brings me to what I thought was the best thing about the show: the interaction between band and audience. It was plainly obvious that the Avetts were having a ball playing their songs for the Kentucky faithful, and that in turn seemed to give the crowd permission to get respectfully rowdy, to participate along with the band in what from the beginning seemed more like a celebration than a music show. About halfway through the faint – and then heavy – smell of marijuana began to fill the general admission section on the floor of the arena. I looked around several times and people were jumping up and down, bobbing their heads, smiling, looking at their friends as if to say what a great time they were having, and – perhaps most importantly – singing along with every word. I know some people get annoyed when crowds sing at shows, but I love it. And the band encouraged it – I could hear their playing, singing, and crowd banter loud and clear.

A few other highlights for me include when Scott and Seth took to a single microphone at the left of the stage for some truly brotherly singing of “When I Drink” and “Murder in the City” from The Gleam EPs, and then a surprising and stirring rendition of “Sorry Man” from one of their first long-player releases, A Carolina Jubilee. The song is a determined story about young love persevering in the face of parental opposition to the young man, and the crowd, guys and girls alike, ate it up. The song fits the banjo- and acoustic guitar-only arrangement nicely. Another favorite of the night was when they played “At The Beach” from Mignoette. I had never heard the song live before and it surpassed my expectations; it was fun, breezy (as the title might imply), and even a little funky. The crowd got down. Live favorite “Talk On Indolence” absolutely rocked, and it was hilarious listening to the everyone try to sing along with the tongue-twisting opening of the song. A song from their up and coming album to be released (hopefully) early next year called “The Once and Future Carpenter” slowed the pace but not the celebration, and many fans already knew the words; it’s one of the most mature and life-affirming tunes the brothers have ever penned. I also loved watching Joe Kwon play his cello, relentlessly breaking strings and head-banging all the while. His passion for his instrument, as it is with the other members of the band, is palpable. Some songs he played without the cello touching the ground, and at one point he rocked it out like an electric guitar while his long black hair covered his face like The Undertaker. I wasn’t sure how he’d fit in when he joined the group in 2007, but four years later there is no question he belongs and brings an energy and musical ability all his own. Be sure to keep an eye on him at the next Avett show you go to.

The band concluded with “The Perfect Space” and returned for a two-song encore that included “Swept Away” and the oft-covered Earl Scruggs tune “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues”, which ended the night fittingly in a bluegrassy fever. Do not let the naysayers and skeptics fool you in to thinking The Avett Brothers have sold out or gotten “too big” to be enjoyable. It simply ain’t true. I can’t imagine getting my money’s worth, plus more – the band displayed contagious energy and true gratitude, not to mention they played for nearly two hours – from any other band than I did last Thursday with these guys. It’s a pleasure having a group like them making music in this present day for so many people to connect so profoundly with, not only at shows but on albums, and hopefully they will be touring for a long time to come. They are truly a band for our times, lacking pretension, affirming life, and earnest when it’s cool not to be. Their tours are about more than a string of shows, they are about celebrating life: the ups, the downs, the similar experiences we all have. And the thing about a celebration is that you are invited and encouraged to participate. It’s time to get rowdy.

I'm not entirely sure about this website yet, but looking over it it looks legit and fairly new. I submitted this review and they ended up posting it. Not sure what their standards are for posting, but here's a link:   This review on VZ Magazine website