As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Sunday, November 11, 2018

The Seldom Scene w/ Maybe April -- Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 11/9/2018


Row E, Seats 114-115 (center section on the left aisle)
 
The Seldom Scene displayed their usual virtuoso musicianship and vocal harmonies in a 75-minute set Friday evening before a large, appreciative crowd. As usual, the band’s repertoire ranged far and wide, including blues (“Rollin’ and Tumblin’”), gospel (the stunning vocals of “I’ll Be No Stranger There”), and even Rat Pack (“The Small Exception Of Me”, popularized by Dean Martin). They also covered songs made famous by James Taylor (“Sweet Baby James”), John Fogerty (“Big Train (from Memphis)”), and Arlo Guthrie (Steve Goodman’s “City Of New Orleans”). Other standouts included “Through The Bottom Of The Glass”, “California Cottonfields”, and the haunting “Blue Ridge”. Overall, the show was great enough that I forgave them for not getting to “Wait A Minute”, my personal favorite.
 
Americana-inspired country trio Maybe April did a nice job in their 40-minute opening set, despite the absence of one member of the trio. (“Oliver” did a fine job as a fill-in “frontwoman”, taking the lead instrumental role on all of the material.) Even reduced to two parts rather than three, their vocal harmonies sounded fine, and the material was surprisingly strong, notably on the opening “Blush”, “California”, and the closing “Isabel”.

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