Also Playing
Rosanne Cash
((McCabe's, Santa Monica; 150 seats; $ 20))
Band: Cash, Larry Campbell. Opened, July 18, 1996.
Both shows sold out immediately, thanks to a reputation Cash earned during several years on the Columbia label with a string of singles, including 11 country chart-toppers.
She has moved to New York from Nashville, and all but disowned her earlier hits. Always personal, Cash's material is increasingly introspective, often at the expense of catchiness; it would be difficult to imagine any other singer wanting to incorporate her songs into their acts. That said, her angst, often conveyed with a literary bent that's a long way from today's country mainstream, works well with the singer-songwriter crowd.
Accompanied only by her own guitar (and, on one song, piano) and by Larry Campbell on lead guitar and mandolin, Cash seemed just right for the nothing-if-not-intimate McCabe's.
The second night's approximately two-hour set included several numbers from " 10-Song Demo," two performed in conjunction with selections from her current book of short semi-fictional pieces, "Bodies of Water" (Hyperion).
Like many singers who ply the folk circuit, Cash is a good talker, offering anecdotes about her life, with plenty of self-deprecating humor.
And, like many talented writers, she's an excellent interpreter, making the "My Fair Lady" standard "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" sound like a less-convoluted page from her own songbook, and closing with the Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" for a bit of real melodic variety.
Variety is striving to present the most thorough review database. To report inaccuracies in review credits, please click here. We do not currently list below-the-line credits, although we hope to include them in the future. Please note we may not respond to every suggestion. Your assistance is appreciated.
