Live Review: Americana Songwriters In the Round
(All photos courtesy Ron Chapiesky)
Americana Songwriters In the Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Danny Schmidt, Doug and Telisha Williams
Unitarian Universalist Coffeehouse Series
Columbia, SC
Monday, June 22nd 2009
It may have been Monday night, and the sweltering heat of the first day of summer in the deep south meant that not much was happening outside, but in the roomy confines of this Universalist Church, business and art converged to create a special evening of music, as one singer opined, “In the company of friends.”
The business side of the equation is the booking agent shared by all three of the artists on this bill. He managed to put together a two-week tour for them during what’s typically a slower time on the folk circuit, outside of the weekend festivals, and on this particular night, at least, it paid off with an appreciative, near-capacity crowd.
Arranged in-the-round, Jonathan Byrd, Danny Schmidt, and the husband and wife duo of Doug and Telisha Williams took turns through eight rounds spread over two sets, plus another encore round, making it a very full night of music.
On this night after Father’s Day, Jonathan Byrd opened the show with an appropriate tune, “Happy Father’s Day.” Typical of Byrd’s scenic songscapes, the tune paints a pained portrait of a father-son relationship that’s probably all too common, unfortunately.
Danny Schmidt followed Byrd with an equally emotional performance, of “This Too Shall Pass,” his ode to fighting cancer. Lines like, “Kill it like a buffalo, with awe and with respect,” show the poetic, propulsive properties of Schmidt’s best work, and his fingerpicking throughout the evening was mesmerizing and multidimensional, adding volumes to what was sung.
After the one-two downer punches from Byrd and Schmidt, Virginia duo Doug and Telisha Williams came across like a breath of fun, fresh air, even on their first number which they described as a “Gospel drinking song.”
The night progressed in this fashion for a number of rounds, and each time one performer would pull out a showstopper, like Byrd’s “The Law and the Lonesome,” or Schmidt’s “Leaves are Burning,” the others would rise to the challenge and produce chilling moments of their own.
The great thing about a show like this one is that you get three well-matched yet totally different artists in one sitting. Byrd is the most conventional, with his close-to-country story songs and easy drawling vocals, yet his deceptively simple songs can contain some complicated truths. As Byrd himself commented at one point, “If you wake up and find yourself in one of my songs, you’d best keep moving.”
Schmidt is the spiritual poet with shaman-like guitar skills—if you’ve heard Michael Hedges playing Bob Dylan songs, that’s the same kind of spine-tingling vibe one gets from hearing Schmidt compositions such as “Serpentine Cycle of Money.” His best song of the night was the epic “Stained Glass,” a tale of religion, faith, and more wrapped in apocalyptic poetry and prose.
That leaves Doug and Telisha Williams, whose traditional country style sometimes positioned them as the comic relief between the draining depression of Byrd and Schmidt. Not that they’re not capable of playing in the dark, though, as “The Ghost of the Knoxville Girl” proved. Written as an answer song to the Louvin Brothers classic “Knoxville Girl,” the creepy tune is slated to be the title cut on their next CD.
The communal spirit of these talented performers, and the camaraderie they had already experienced after a week on the road together, was evident in the encore portion of the show. Schmidt offered up his early gem “Company of Friends,” dedicating it to his tour mates even as both Jonathan Byrd and Telisha Williams chimed in on backing vocals for the choruses. The Williams’ last song turned out to be a Jonathan Byrd composition, “It’s Too Late.” The chorus of that one, which included Byrd playing lead guitar licks on his acoustic, goes “It’s too late to call it a night,” and judging from the audience’s closing ovation, they agreed.
This package tour has several more stops to make around the southeast in the next couple of weeks—check the schedule below to see if they’ll be in your area.
Jun 24, 2009
Americana Songwriters-in-the-Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Doug & Telisha Williams, Danny Schmidt
The Purple Onion 16 Main Street Saluda, NC
Jun 25, 2009 8:00pm
Americana Songwriters-in-the-Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Doug & Telisha Williams, Danny Schmidt, Idgy Vaughn
Eddie’s Attic 515-B North McDonough Street Decatur, GA
Jun 26, 2009 8:00pm
Americana Songwriters-in-the-Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Doug & Telisha Williams, Danny Schmidt
The Crimson Moon Cafe 24 North Park Street Dahlonega, GA
Jun 27, 2009 9:00pm
Americana Songwriters-in-the-Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Doug & Telisha Williams, Danny Schmidt
Douglas Corner Cafe 2106-A 8th Avenue S. Nashville, TN
Jun 28, 2009 7:00pm
Americana Songwriters-in-the-Round:
Jonathan Byrd, Doug & Telisha Williams, Danny Schmidt
Cornelia Concerts Knoxville, TN