CARRIE RODRIGUEZ + Tim O'Reagan [of The Jayhawks]

Tue 1st May 2007

The Luminaire presents
CARRIE RODRIGUEZ
+ Tim O'Reagan [of The Jayhawks]

Doors 8.00
£10 via WeGotTickets
£12 door

Five years ago, singer, songwriter and violinist More on Carrie Rodriguez had a simple goal: “To get a gig playing fiddle with somebody great, be on the road and make a living.” But ever since she was spotted at Cheapo Discs in her hometown of Austin, Texas, backing outsider country act Hayseed at an in-store gig during the 2001 South By Southwest music convention, Rodriguez has far exceeded her all-too-modest expectations.

Through her unique collaboration with veteran songwriter Chip Taylor, which began after that in-store and has yielded three critically acclaimed albums of duets, Rodriguez has enthralled record buyers and concert audiences throughout North America and Europe. She’s become an evocative vocalist and compelling composer now ready to take center stage on her own.

Seven Angels on a Bicycle, her solo debut, puts an urbane, seductive spin on alternative country and bluegrass, with artfully minimalist production that features melancholy echoes of pedal steel, finger-plucked fiddle strings, brushed snare, a whisper of saxophone and plenty of wide open space for Rodriguez’s remarkable voice to fill. Rodriguez boasts an affecting twang and brings a wonderfully lived-in quality to her vocal performances.

There’s an intimacy, honesty and sexual frankness within them that makes Rodriguez’s every breath worth hanging on to. Her listeners immediately become her confidantes. All the while she and co-producer Taylor push musical boundaries, stripping country-style tunes to their emotional and melodic essence. There’s an Austin-style warmth on these tracks, counter-balanced with New York City sophistication.

Where the main support is concerned, fans already know Tim O'Reagan through his work with The Jayhawks, for whom he played drums and also wrote songs that were strong enough to find a place among those of bandleader Gary Louris. But though his distinctive vocals earned him a place in their vocal tapestry, he stayed in the background, as drummers must do, a few yards from the action that transpired at the front of the stage.

Well, those days are over for O’Reagan, whose self-titled debut is not what you might expect from a drummer who’s stepping out on his own.

It is, for example, extraordinarily musical, beginning with the first track. “These Things” sets an immediate mood, with an accordion – not a zydeco blast but a French musette that might have been sampled in some Left Bank café. The rhythm sets in, ambling and strolling, with someone whistling absently in the background behind the lyrics, “I’m looking still” If you weren’t paying attention enough to notice the dark cast of the rest of the words, you’d think this was a lover’s wistful reverie.

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