Carrie Newcomer with Gary Walters at Saint Mark Presbyterian Church (Rockville), 3/8/2014

I learned about Carrie Newcomer by accident – turned on Mountain Stage several years ago on a Saturday night while she was in the middle of a set. After listening to the rest of the set, I was impressed enough to pick up her current CD at the time (The Geography of Light), and a couple other ones later on. I had never before seen her in person, however.

 

Saint Mark’s fellowship hall, where the Institute of Musical Traditions holds most of its events, was packed for the Saturday evening show. Accompanied by Gary Walters on keyboard, Carrie (on guitar throughout) put on a fine show. Her use of dynamics and the expressiveness of her voice came across extremely well live, and she had a great rapport with the audience. Highlights from her earlier material included “If Not Now” (an audience singalong), “Breathe In Breathe Out” (which concluded the first set), and “One Woman and a Shovel.” She also debuted some new songs from her new CD, A Permeable Life, including “Thank You Good Night”, “Forever Ray” (best song ever about lawn ornaments?), “A Light in the Road”, and “Please Don’t Put Me on Hold” (which continued her tradition of ending many of her albums with an upbeat, somewhat novelty-oriented tune). Although the CD doesn’t officially come out until April 1, she did have some copies for sale at the merch table, which sold out quickly.