Well, true to form, the last two performances I plan to attend this year will be part of my continuing celebration of indy music, written and performed by fetching young ladies
.
The second-last was over a week ago now, and was a last one in its own right: Miss Claire de Lune Jenkins Avec Band played their final show before going off to record a CD in a single extended weekend session. And they blew the doors off the joint with Claire’s sweet original songs, starting with the quieter Crow’s Nest and traversing folk, country and rock during the 12-song set before finishing up with a full-on reggae version of Revolution. Although I’d heard most of the songs before, I’d never heard them like this—it’s gonna be a great release, sometime early next year.
The last gig happens tomorrow night, right here in London town. Kristin Sweetland, who’s also in the process of recording a new CD, is playing a Christmas show on the winter solstice along with whistlin’ revivalist D Trevlon and a few other guests. I’ve only seen D play once, but I’ve listened to his CD over and over; it’s an album of western music (in the country-western sense) but filtered through Ennio Morricone and the Doors to produce something that’s intriguing and different. And Kristin… enough good can’t be said, but I’ll give it a shot. I always come away from Kristin’s shows in awe of her guitar prowess and her passion for music and language and story. There aren’t enough of her kind around, and she doesn’t play nearly as often as I’d like.