Live Review – Caitlin Rose in Austin
Last night was an occasion I’d been looking forward to for a while: Justin Townes Earle‘s sober (hopefully) return to Austin, TX, but in the traveling party as the support act was Caitlin Rose, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter that I’ve been asked to give an opinion on many times, but for whom online music and videos had rendered my opinion inconclusive heretofore.
The first challenge was getting in the door, since I have “fallen out of the graces” of the Justin Townes Earle camp. But The Triggerman’s tentacles run deep my friends, and I was able to slip in like the sands of Sonora under the door sill. Actually, I walked up to the front door and said “Do you know who I am !?!? I’m the goddamn Triggerman! Taylor Swift wrote a song about me! TAYLOR SWIFT !!” And after that they laid the red carpet, set me up with a $50 bar credit, and I drank top shelf all night.
Being a “tabloid” journalist has its perks.
A review of Justin Townes Earle is coming, but Caitlin was good enough that I wanted to give her some individual attention.
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The first thing you take away from seeing Caitlin Rose live is her strong voice and confident delivery. Effortless command of the high vocal range punches home the themes of her morose songs and sucks you right in. They are backed by occasional, tasteful harmonies, and likewise tasteful and traditional instrumentation from a lead Telecaster and a Sho-Bud pedal steel guitar. Caitlin keeps the rhythm in her hips, swaying back in forth during songs; an asset for any female performer, and a necessity when you’re rolling sans bass and drums.
Signature songs like “Shanghai Cigarettes” and “Sinful Wishing Well” were much better than their recorded or video counterparts. But where I find issues with Caitlin is where to file her music, and not just in the always-tiring genre name game bit, but just in what mood I should approach it with.
It would probably annoy her to hear this, but there are some hipster elements, however subtle, in what she does: the timid approach most notably. She called out hipsters from the stage of The Parish in Austin, warning that in a few months, the town would be filling with them and their Ray-Ban sunglasses for South by Southwest. Hey, hipsters deserve good music too, but more on point, the disparate elements that make up her music make it a little difficult to compute for me. She has some great lyrics that put her in sort of the tragic, self-destructive, almost underground hard country realm, but then there’s a lot of “alt-country / NPR audience” in the way the music is conveyed.
Between songs she appeared to be somewhere between nervous and maybe even annoyed. Though during each performance, she was “all in,” 100%, even though she would stare forward, reluctant to make eye contact or engage the crowd. It was like she was singing to us, not for us. I felt like she needed to go backstage, cry her eyes out, then get angry and punch a wall, and then come back on stage fearlessly and kick all our asses. I’m sure some will rebut that Catlin is shy by nature. I measure artists not only against other artists, but themselves, and what seemed frustrating was not that Caitlin was unable to cut loose, but that she was, but wouldn’t.
Still I’m going to give her a positive review. I think you should poke around the internet for her stuff, and if it speaks to you, go and see her live or buy a CD. She is an up and comer with a young band, and a voice and writing skills that will surely afford her an audience for years to come.
1 1/2 Guns Up! (out of two for you noobs.)
Aran
December 5, 2010 @ 5:01 pm
Wow. I’ve never heard of this gal before now, but that song is fantastic. What a voice! I’m not gonna lie, I was transfixed for those three minutes. Thanks for the reviewTriggerman.
The Triggerman
December 5, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
You want me to try and get you some digits Aran? 🙂
The voice is even better live.
Aran
December 5, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
I wouldn’t turn ’em down man! Austin is a long ways from here though….
My comments above were purely inspired by the music, but she has a lovely profile as well, no mistake. That was not lost on me.
The Triggerman
December 5, 2010 @ 5:58 pm
She’s easy on the eyes. Last night she was wearing jeans that were as tight as humanly possible, with her boots outside her pants. Didn’t get a picture. Since I had to repel off a helicopter onto the roof, and then belly crawl down a air duct to get in, I couldn’t bring my camera, just my camcorder, and I had to save all my battery juice for JTE.
BlueRibbonRadio
December 5, 2010 @ 5:44 pm
“I AM THE GODDAMN TRIGGERMAN!”
ihateminimumwage
December 5, 2010 @ 6:25 pm
Good review, and gonna check out her stuff.
Might want to fix your spelling Trig, missing an ‘I’ in there…
The Triggerman
December 5, 2010 @ 6:53 pm
Impossible! I NEVER makes mistakes! Don’t you know who I am !!!
Oh wait . . .
ihateminimumwage
December 5, 2010 @ 7:43 pm
Can’t have silly things like spelling getting in the way of journalistic integrity.
Aran
December 5, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
He’s the one, the only, TYPOMAN!! You are a superhero Trigger!
Misfit Radio
December 5, 2010 @ 7:41 pm
Im puzzled by the hipster fascination by so many lately and im still puzzled as to what a hipster actually is..
Anywho.. Whats the deal with having to turn into a superhero to get in the show?
Good review.. Im not sure if I could take her voice for an extended period of time Its certainly unique and I like it but it still kinda makes my head turn sideways when she really picks it up..
When I see JTE in February Jessica Lea Mayfield will be with him.. I dont know much about her either.
Kay
December 5, 2010 @ 7:52 pm
She certainly has a presence about her but probably should stick to those lower ranges, just sayin…..
Aran
December 5, 2010 @ 8:16 pm
I like her voice, and I like the harmonies. It’s different, but nice. And I also don’t like hipsters.
Kay
December 5, 2010 @ 8:00 pm
Hey Misfit,
I just looked at your website. I lived in Fenton, Michigan for a while back in the 80’s. I am originally from Michigan. Fenton is a nice place.
Misfit Radio
December 5, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
Hey thanks.. It’s a good place to stay.. Ideal for me as it has water everywhere and 2 State Parks within 15 minutes.. Whereabouts did ya live? Appraently Triggerman lived about 4 miles to the east in Holly a few years back..
Kay
December 6, 2010 @ 11:24 am
We lived right on Leroy in town and then we lived in Holly too on Dixie Highway. Small world. Moved to Indiana for a job and have never moved back but I miss all the water and parks too. We vacation in Michigan, mostly the UP. Son just got married in Saginaw in October. (Just talked to my daughter who is in port today-she sings on a cruise ship-and she has a job offer in Nashville, someone recognized her amazing talent)! We shall see.
The Triggerman
December 5, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
She doesn’t sing that high all the time, in every song. Come on people, it’s just one video. She usually only sang in the high ranges during the choruses, and it is probably emphasized because she has another girl singing with her here. I saw her with two dudes, playing telecaster and steel, and helping out with harmonies.
I wouldn’t call the hipster thing a “fascination.” More of an annoyance.
Misfit Radio
December 5, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
just givin ya a hard time about the hipster thing.. as for her voice Im not too worried about it.. Just an observation
Kay
December 6, 2010 @ 11:25 am
She has a good voice but best in lower ranges, as with most singers, they have a sweet spot 🙂
Misfit Radio
December 7, 2010 @ 7:38 am
Hionestlly I think it is the higher part of her voice that makes it so unique.Her lower tones remind me alot of Eilen Jewel. If you dont know who she is then look her up. Sea of Tears is a great album and song. I think her voice just took me by surprise. The more I hear it the more I like it. The song itself is killer.
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 10:15 am
Jessica Lea Mayfield is another morose girl singer who kind of strattles the hipster and country worlds.
The worst part about trying to get in was renting the helicopter. That wasn’t cheap.
David Lee said Chuck Norris knew Karate before it was cool!
December 5, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
Naw. If me and my friends were at that they show we would have definately been escorted out before the third song.
The Triggerman
December 5, 2010 @ 8:19 pm
Really wish I’d gotten at least one video of her set. That video represents her music, but not what I saw.
You would’ve stuck it out.
Aran
December 5, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
Yeah, I’ve watched this a couple times today and it’s official. I love this song.
BlueRibbonRadio
December 6, 2010 @ 5:11 am
I’ve been a fan of hers for some time. The Dead Flowers EP is fantastic, and still gets constant rotation. I’ve yet to pick up her full length. I think it’s time to do that.
Aran
December 6, 2010 @ 6:31 pm
I downloaded the “Dead Flowers EP” last night after my last post on here, and I’ve listened to it twice today already. Love it! I didn’t like the arrangements as much on her full length disc, but I only heard short clips. Looks like it’s only available as a British import. I’m gonna do some more poking around on here tonight, but if you find a way to purchase it domestically will you let me know Chris? I MUST have that song “Sinful Wishing Well”!
BlueRibbonRadio
December 6, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
I shall keep you posted my friend.
Greg Roberts
December 6, 2010 @ 1:24 pm
Very interesting. Like it.
Denise
December 6, 2010 @ 7:19 pm
Agreed. She does have an interesting voice. Great blog Triggerman.
Roscoe
December 7, 2010 @ 9:12 am
She Is amazing and her full album is only available in the UK it will be released in the States in febuary and triggerman maybe you should have asked her about the Taylor Swift thing seeing as her mom is Taylors cowriter alot of the time.
The Triggerman
December 7, 2010 @ 9:19 am
Wow, that’s a great nugget Roscoe. I didn’t get a chance to speak to her or her band. I tried between sets, but she was busy talking with other people and then disappeared. I also tried after the show but they disappeared again. Wanted to focus on the show this time. Maybe next time I’ll get an interview.
Aran
December 7, 2010 @ 4:21 pm
Glad to hear it will be available in the U.S. next year, thanks for that info Roscoe!
Justin Townes Earle’s Redemption in Austin, TX « Saving Country Music
December 7, 2010 @ 3:18 pm
[…] I was planning on getting a few videos that night, but each song seemed so important to capture, so I captured what I could, and still missed JTE performing Tom Waits’ “Union Square” and a high energy blues song (got the tail end). I am still uploading video, but as they come online, I will added them to the collection of photos and such from the night to This Message Board Thread. You can also read a review of opener Caitlin Rose. […]
ihateminimumwage
December 8, 2010 @ 11:36 pm
After digging around a bit, I found some stuff from ‘Save Macaulay The Band’ which is what she performed as before just using her own name. Some of it is really indie/hipster-ish sounding and some is really good. All over Youtube, of course…
Big Names Cash In On ‘Third For A Word’ Songwriting Rule « Saving Country Music
February 1, 2011 @ 12:54 pm
[…] releasing the album Own Side Now in the UK, which will be available in the US in March. I saw her recently opening for Justin Townes Earle, where she gave thanks to people for letting her crash on their floors as she faces the all too […]
Tony Delamont
April 2, 2011 @ 1:38 pm
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I think she’s awful. To me this sounds like the sort of dreadful caterwauling that one hears at a not-particularly-good open mic night.