LAURA CANTRELL: THRIFT SHOP SONGBOOK LIVE WEDS., MAY 12 YOU MAY HAVE ...
YOU MAY HAVE already fallen for the sound of Laura Cantrell's voice while listening to her long-running Saturday afternoon WFMU slot, "The Radio Thrift Shop," but her Tennessee accent is even lovelier delivering the simple and often bittersweet lines of the classic country and folk styles she favors. I could run you a lengthy comparison list-critics like to throw around names like Lucinda Williams and Kitty Wells-but really what strikes me about her voice is its plain, easy delivery. She sometimes wavers out of tune, but it doesn't seem to matter.
Cantrell blends performances of originals with covers of tunes by such artists as Amy Rigby, Amy Allison, Joe Flood and the Carter Family. For her Winter Garden show she's asked a few friends to join her-Marshall Crenshaw, John Wesley Harding, Angel Dean and Sue Garner.
I've never seen her live, but if her albums are any indication, then I've got to believe it's going to be the kind of evening that makes you nostalgic for your country roots, even if you don't have any. Cantrell's debut album, Not the Tremblin' Kind, and the 2002 follow-up, When Roses The Bloom Again, turned her into something of a critics' darling. Both are out on her husband's Diesel Only Records label, which boasts a catalog dedicated to truckin' music.
Her songs stand quite nicely on their own, but coupled with her biography, it'll make a really nice movie one day. It's just your basic story of a girl raised in Nashville with a summer at the Country Music Hall of Fame. She moved to New York to attend Columbia, and took the opportunity to hone her skills as a singer and radio DJ, drawing on her country background and junk-sale record finds.
On all counts life was going pretty well. At one point she was juggling a career as a Wall Street bank VP (long story), recording and touring-including stints opening for names like Elvis Costello and Joan Baez-and running a radio show. Obviously overloaded, she did what any reasonable person would do and ditched the steady job. We're all the better for the leap of faith, and from the preview I got of her next album, it sounds like she's doing just fine herself.
Also, please note: This show is rated safe for listeners generally fearful of the twang in country music. Cantrell's tunes lean way over on the folk/bluegrass side.
Laura Cantrell: Thrift Shop Songbook Live, Winter Garden World Financial Center West St. (betw. Vesey & Liberty Sts.), 212-945-2600, 7, free.