Last weekend I went to see Shovels & Rope at the Sinclair in Cambridge. A few things to quickly note.
1. I can’t really describe Shovels & Rope well, but if you haven’t heard of them, check them out. A recent NYT article actually gets it pretty close: “They like to say they are “making as much noise as they can” with two old guitars, a kick drum, snare, harmonica, tambourine and occasional keyboard. I dare to match them with the couple that set the standard for country duets, Johnny Cash and June Carter. Both couples share Southern roots and that music-from-the-back porch country sound.” They were great live too, although they didn’t quite meet my (very high) expectations.
2. I liked the Sinclair a lot. It’s a new music venue right behind Harvard Square. They seem to have a good line-up of artists coming through, the sound is great, and the layout’s well-done. A nice addition to Cambridge.
3. The opening artist, Andrew Combs, completely blew me away. And I almost skipped his set. He’s a Tennessee-based guitar player and singer, and performed an acoustic set with just a pedal steel player backing him up. Reminded me a bit of Ryan Adams, but he’s definitely got his own thing going on. Here are a clip I shot. The quality’s not great, and it doesn’t do his set justice, but it’s something:
Thanks to Ed and Cress for the tickets.