A Concert Sublime - Samantha Crain

In my long life, I've been at hundreds of concerts. I've enjoyed most of them. Been underwhelmed by a few. But there are a handful that stand out as truly amazing. They are the kind of concerts you don't want to end. They're spellbinding from start to finish. Among those performances that have taken me away from the room I'm listening in to a different sphere are Elvis Costello (Shaboo), Jane Siberry (Toads), the Pogues (Hammersmith Palais), Toots and the Maytals (Toads), Patty Larkin (Iron Horse), Parker Millsap (Calvin Theater), Andy M. Stewart (Roaring Brook), Nanci Griffith (Roaring Brook), Joe Strummer (Webster), Billy Bragg (Rusty Nail), Richard Thompson and Crowded House (UMASS), Dick Gaughan (Wilde Auditorium), Lucinda Williams (Warner Theater), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (Green River), Tyler Childers (Green River), Squeeze (Guiness Fleadh), Bogmen (Lupos).

Samantha Crain at the Iron Horse, Northampton MA.

Now I'll add Samantha Crain's performance a few days ago at the Iron Horse in Northampton MA to that list.

She stepped onto stage while Choctaw social music played (she later explained the music of her tribes people and ancestors was needed to calm and center her as she battled stage fright), and from the moment she opened her mouth, her power as a singer was evident (it was the only concert I've ever attended where the crowd burst into spontaneous applause, mid-song, at her vocal prowess). And when the lyrics flowed we knew she was a poet and an accomplished songstress.

There wasn't a weak moment as she filled her set with songs from her two most recent albums, and some from her older work. Her bandmates, with bass, drum kit and some electronic instrumentation, ably created a sonic landscape through which her songs, often embellished with beats and orchestral washes, came to life on the modest stage.

Onstage, Crain is funny and self-effacing, but her music itself is embued with all the confidence needed to raise the performance to remarkable heights.

Samantha Crain's recordings are the invitation. The live performance is fulfillment of an artistic promise that well-worth seeking out.

There's an interview I did with Samantha from a few years ago that you can find in the archives of this site.