I just got back from seeing Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson performing together at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Omigod. They were so amazing. Honestly it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. They are both creaky and old, and that was part of what made it so great, aside from the towering genius of their songwriting. Those voices are expressing a *lifetime*. You can’t get that from a young performer. You can’t get anything approaching that from probably any singer under the age of 45 or so. And Merle is a helluva lead acoustic guitar picker when he wants to be too. There was youth up there too, his 16 year old son played the telecaster, and quite beautifully.
No one opened for them, but if they had wanted someone, a good choice would have been Paula Sinclair. She’s a Portlander originally from Kentucky who just released a new CD called Steady Girl. I’m biased because I know her, but it is fabulous. It is real country, and her voice has the kind of experience in it that I’m talking about. Overall you might say her singing and songwriting falls somewhere on a continuum between Loretta Lynn and Lucinda Williams, but entirely new too. She played her CD release show last Saturday at Lola’s Room with a full band which was great because it really lets her cut loose and rock out. She’s great solo too, which is how she performs most often, but hopefully she can get a regular band together to tour. It’s no simple thing having a full band when you are an otherwise solo artist, from what I’ve witnessed. Can be a bit like herding cats.
