Great Lake Swimmers
The Wooden Birds
Sharon Van Etten
As much as I was looking forward to seeing the Great Lake Swimmers last Thursday night, I was even more excited about opening act the Wooden Birds. The Wooden Birds is the latest project from Andrew Kenny, the singer/songwriter behind the American Analog Set. Kenny also sat in on David Wingo's excellent 2007 album Ola Podrida and Wingo returns the favor on the Wooden Birds' Magnolia. Matt Pond of the eponymous band Matt Pond PA and former AnAmSet collaborator Leslie Sisson also fill in on guitar and are part of the touring group as well. The band opened with "False Alarm," the first song off their debut album Magnolia, And at just the right moment, late in their set, they broke out the great AmAnSet song "Aaron and Maria". I could have easily listened to the hushed vocals and melancholic instrumentation for another hour (for the rest of the night, really). Hopefully they'll be back in town soon.
The Great Lake Swimmers came on afterwards and played a nice long set of music. They ended with an audience request ("You have to play it for me! I'm from Toronto!") and a three-song encore.
Rounding out an unusually strong triple-bill was opening act Sharon Van Etten, who completely charmed the small audience that gathered to hear her perform (well, OK...all except for the three people camped out at the front right of the stage who texted, carried on a conversation, and also somehow managed to spill a full glass of beer during the 45 minute set). Her songs fall squarely into the female-singer-songwriter-with-a-guitar category, but there's something that set hers above and apart.
The Wooden Birds - False Alarm (courtesy of Barsuk Records)
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