Show Review: Arborea With Mariee Sioux and Sarah Shook

Arborea

September 5, 2012
Nightlight, Chapel Hill, NC

By Tommy Kurosawa

The shared experience of a live music show is something long past. The same is true for a random trip to the local multiplex on a saturday afternoon. With the advent of internet -- film and music at our fingertips, Pirate Bay and the like -- well, we can find anything our "hip" friend tells us to download and devour. The problem is the lack of effort it took to find the diamond in the dust. Let's face it, if it rained Van Gogh's every morning, that walk through the Louvre wouldn't be so precious.

CUT TO: A child pointing at the wall of the museum nonchalantly mutters, "Mommy, one of those fell in the backyard yesterday" as others shuffle past the Monet.

But occasionally, still, we stumble into the arena blindly. Not because it was hyped up by some local promoter. Not because the "cool kid" with no musical talent down the street championed it. No, simply because, it was a Wednesday night in Chapel Hill and you had nothing to lose.

Sarah Shook took the stage first with her haunting take on American-ized ballads. I have seen her with a full band before (Sarah Shook and The Devil), gushing the desperation of Hank Williams and bleeding the sharpness of Wanda Jackson. However, solo, Shook was a lullaby in waiting -- smart songs, soulfully stripped down to the bone -- all while coddling a large, hollow bodied guitar.

Mariee Sioux was second. This is where Shook's subtle genius became palpable, for without her as an opener, Sioux's entry into the foray would have seemed less grande. With primal and delicate lyrics floating over Joan Baez-esque finger picking, Sioux hypnotized the crowd. There were songs of blood and flowers and teeth. There were songs where verses dissipated into choruses -- maybe -- or perhaps there was no chorus at all (you lost track while the siren whispered something about "tongues").

But Arborea was the headliner. Now, after the openers' songs had faded into the walls. Now, after the crowd had thought better of the spell they had been seduced by earlier, a new magic filled the space. Arborea's primitive banjo coupled with Robert-Johnson-pact-made-with-the-devil electric guitar, fuzz wailing over the sweetness of Shanti's Bathsheeba-esque vocals, now, this is what we had stumbled into: like staring at the taken woman, beautiful, and bathing upon the roof.

Most of us sat silent. Oh, we laughed at the banter in between -- and the technical problems. And a few drunks chattered in and out during the set. But the most of us listened spellbound.

We were haunted by the sound. We were in love with the moment. We were amazed that these things can still happen.

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http://arboreamusic.blogspot.com
http://marieesioux.tumblr.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/sarahshookthedevil

Pictured Above: Mariee Sioux at Nightlight in Chapel Hill, NC on September 5th, 2012.

Prevue: Anna Rose Beck, Rachel Kiel, Darien Crossley at Cafe Driade Friday July 27th

Beginning with dorm room YouTube videos that caught the eye of local promoters, Anna Rose Beck was hastily ushered onto the local folk stage. While still quite raw and uncut, Beck’s early performances trialed style and composure. Her solo act became a duo with a cellist, soon percussion was invited in. Successes with mixing more hands in the music eventually lead to a sprawling six person folk rock outfit with a proper forty-five minute set built for the club circuit. Most of us following Beck at that time hoped to be dazzled by a surprise arrangement of instruments and musicians on any given night and the anticipation of who would be on stage was half of the entertainment. It was a performance of changes and for those who seek folk music for the appreciation of the art, Beck was unknowingly providing a rare opportunity to watch it move and see where it went.

The performance continues. With influences still gathering and self-image as a songwriter half drawn, Beck's performances are intimate...vulnerable. Gently plucking an acoustic guitar and simmering through lines of heart broken joy, her eyes invite both reflections of the past and dreams of what may lie ahead. Imagining once again how playing it differently will feel, Beck invites us back to her beginnings…solo, with a guitar and a story.

The show is tomorrow, Friday July 27th at Cafe Driade in Chapel Hill, a quaint and grassy little candle lit back yard dining experience perfectly suited for sipping fine wine and enjoying a strummed guitar. The show promotes as "three of North Carolina's young songwriters" and Beck joins Rachel Kiel and Darien Crossley in its billing.

Chapel Hill native Rachel Kiel adds a full measure of spunk to her album of classically derived folk rock. Drawing from a personal diary, she writes with courage and sings with confidence. Her hit "Lights On" spans time and distance being equally suitable for early eighties post-disco feme punk or polished nineties indie, and either can be found drafting somewhere between Nashville and New York.

Darien Crossley travels from Asheville, NC to join the line-up and perfectly complements the evening with her velvet voice and even softer falsettos. Crossley may also be welcomed to Chapel Hill as a reminder that those among us who appreciate the beauty of our home grown folk music are well served to keep an ear in the direction of the mountains also. --Carrboro Ninja

FTW - The Cribs @ Motorco - Magnolia Collective @ 506

The Cribs @ Motorco Friday 6/8
The dazzling breadth of Motorco's main stage will hold one of the indy rock's most under valued bands Friday night as Yorkshire's The Cribs play Durham. By sheer will power alone The Cribs have maintained their indy street cred amidst a series of albums which are so pop singed and mass appeal ready that lessor bands would have succumbed to pressure and sold out mainstream long ago (see KoL). Durham tips a hat to that. The Cribs are touring in support of their most recent effort In the Belly of the Brazen Bull. Fight the good fight, The Cribs, ...fight the good fight. We'll be there watching.

LiLa, The Bronzed Chorus @ The Pinhook Wednesday 6/13
LiLa's indy beats are fresher that Juan Valdez' own cup of morning coffee. LiLa is infectiously hip and their performances motivate entire audiences into dance frenzy. Witness what the Durham underground hip hop scene looks like.

Triangle Rhysing: Music for Massed Guitars @ Nightlight Thursday 6/14
All I know about this is that 30 members of my favorite local bands were asked to bring their guitar, an amp, and a distortion pedal. Included are guitar players from Beloved Binge, Battle Rockets, Once and Future Kings, Horseback, Veronique Diabolique, Boat Burning...be ready for a wall of sound.

Magnolia Collective, Driftwood @ Local 506 Friday 6/15
Magnolia Collective and Driftwood redux their Americana proper down home folk rock show which we first loved when the two bands met on stage earlier this Spring at Motorco. Pennsylvania's driftwood is best known for their sweetly spun stories of the bygone era, but its the emotional violin of Claire Byrne that does most of the singing. Magnolia Collective represents their home town well with catchy pop rhythms reproduced for a cooler crowd on folk rock instruments.