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 If
I'd ever heard Kim Richey before, I don't remember. But based
on the recommendation of a Houston friend who rarely leads me
astray and knowing that Richey had collaborated with Radney Foster
in writing my ultimate learning-from-a-bad-relationship song
(and the story of my first marriage) "Nobody Wins,"
I decided to go.
Sursumcorda is a different kind of venue, billing itself as
the place for "alternative music and multimedia arts."
Displays of visual arts are continually changing on monitors
above the bar. A movie screen (presumably used for its intended
purpose at other times) doubles as a theater curtain for the
stage in one corner of the small "back bar" where musical
performances are held. The club has been experimenting with
early (6pm) shows on weekends, great for parents with baby-sitter
issues or a chance for the rest of us to catch a second show
elsewhere. This approach still attracts some of the usual suspects.
Mike, the Twin Cities champion live show taper, and Adam "The
Chord Guy" Schneider (transcribing chords and guitar tablatures
for his website, www.adamschneider.net)
were both there. But the audience demographic was more age-diverse
than a typical club show, with people like the lovely Tina, a
40-something criminal defense attorney who had wandered over
from her office after deciding she'd worked long enough for a
Saturday, and other less-than-frequent club goers.
Richey took the stage after an opening set from California
singer-songwriter Gary Jewell. While Richey performed some songs
from past releases ("You'll Never Know" and "From
Where I Stand" for two), she explained that this tour was
primarily previewing songs that will be on Rise, her upcoming
October release. While it's difficult to get a sense of a song
from a single solo performance (or the thirty second samples
on Richey's web site), the new songs that stood out for me were
"The Circus Song (Can't Let Go)" and "Girl In
A Car." Overall the performance accomplished what I assume
is Richey's goal for this tour. It's whetted my appetite for
the release of Rise and has me looking forward to her return
with a full band in November.
*Visit www.kimrichey.com
for pre-release samples from Rise and www.sursumcorda.com for upcoming events
(musical and otherwise) at Sursumcorda.
Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net
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