If you've not yet heard Sandy Rogers' new album,
Tingling Blue, I highly recommend picking up a copy. You definitely know Sandy Rogers, even if you think you don't. If you ever saw
Reservoir Dogs (and, seriously, who hasn't?), you heard one of her songs. She also did the music for the film version of
Fool For Love. But, anyway, her new album is perhaps her best, and there is a Christmas song on it, "Fun For Christmas," that should speak to just about anyone with a heart left in this country. Last night she and her band delivered two wonderful sets at Unurban Coffee House in Santa Monica. Her band, by the way, is made up of Paul Marshall on bass and backing vocals, Dan Janisch on electric guitar and backing vocals, and Victoria Jacobs on drums (and, though she didn't have a vocal microphone, we could still hear her singing backup too), a stellar band, to be sure, all great songwriters themselves.
Sandy Rogers focused on material from the new album, playing most of the tracks from it, and starting the show with the album's title track. "Lonesome Man" was particularly good. What a voice Sandy has. It's a voice of both ache and attitude, a voice I want to hear more and more of. The show also included "Fool For Love," a song written for the movie
Fool For Love but heard in
Reservoir Dogs, and a beautiful rendition of "Train Fare To Memphis." She also played the wonderful "Missouri Blue." As I mentioned, each of the members of Sandy Rogers' band is a talented songwriter, and to start the second set, Victoria Jacobs played a couple of her own songs. She decided we needed something positive, something optimistic after the heavy weekend, and played a song in which she sings, "
You've gotta trust love to lead the way." A great song, and a good (and needed) reminder. She followed that with "Misery Loves Company," another excellent song (I am looking forward to her upcoming solo album). She then handed her guitar to Paul Marshall, who also played a couple of solo numbers. The first was a funny number about how football can draw a man's focus away from his woman, and about the woman's reaction (it is that reaction that contains much of the song's humor). The second was a sweet rendition of the title track to his
Weed And Water album. Dan Janisch chose not to do any of his own songs, and as the rest of the band returned to the stage, Victoria told Paul she had assumed "Weed And Water" was about a different kind of weed. The second set included a fantastic rendition of "Why Wyoming," Sandy Rogers turning in a gorgeous vocal performance. That was followed by "Turn Around," a song from the new album. I love the cheerful vibe of that one. The moment it begins, you'll find it's difficult to keep from smiling. And of course she played the Christmas song. "
I want something wonderful to happen to us all," she sang. Amen to that. We need it. The show concluded with the final track from
Tingling Blue, "Run Out Of West," featuring another excellent vocal performance.
Here are a few photos (as you can see, it was a bit darker in the room than usual):
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