I’m not quite sure how we managed to do this, but we crammed not one but two life-giving experiences of live music into our packed schedules in the last seven days.
While the ticket prices may have made us poorer in the short run, the head-clearing, hand-clapping, jaw-dropping wonder that swelled our hearts definitely made us richer.
I am old enough to remember a time when the world was shut down because of a global pandemic (no, not that one in 1918, despite what my kids think about my age), and live music simply didn’t happen. We feared those type of shows wouldn’t ever happen again, and that anxiety has served to instill in me a gratitude for every time I get a chance to see a performer live, especially with friends.
So when Spotify let me know back in December that the North Carolina-based bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers would be coming to Eddie Owens’ Presents at the Red Clay Theatre in Duluth, Georgia, March 21, we jumped at the chance. I’m glad we did.
It didn’t take much arm twisting to enlist our favorite live music companions, Jared and Heather, to join us for this musical adventure. Long a fan of bluegrass, I hadn’t seen this genre live since my 20s when I saw Alison Krauss and Union Station at the Macon City Auditorium. Filled with anticipation, the show date arrived in our lives at a very busy moment. In fact, if I had been presented with the opportunity to buy tickets last week, I probably would have passed, citing exhaustion and overcommitment.
That’s the beauty of buying tickets so far in advance. You have precious few excuses that far out. It turned out to be a gift to our future selves. We had a blast.
Dinner with the Neals at Good Word in downtown Duluth was the perfect pre-show warm-up. Catching up and enjoying friends is also an activity that we feared would be gone forever during the pandemic, a Jared and Heather never disappoint. I hear they’re open for bookings if you need a good hang.
The venue was conveniently close to the restaurant, and it was a great spring night for a short walk through downtown Duluth. We would come to rue the warmer temperatures, though, when we took our seats in the back of the theater only to learn that A/C had inconveniently died that morning. Despite all, Eddie couldn’t get it fixed in time, so we were all in for a really hot show. This didn’t bother me in the least but that’s just because I’m always cold in my advanced age.
Speaking of age, Heather pointed out the crowd really made her feel young and vibrant. It was definitely a more mature crowd which didn’t phase me in the least. I am slowly learning to own my… ahem… middle age and embrace the recognition that others who share my tastes are of a certain vintage.
Turns out the Rangers, who are sometimes joined by comedian and banjoist Steve Martin, were performing songs from a new, as of yet, unreleased album titled “Next Act,” none of which featured Martin’s talents. As much as it would have been fun to see him, the musical quality wasn’t diminished in the least. The members of Steep Canyon Rangers — Graham Sharp on banjo and vocals; Mike Guggino on mandolin/mandola and vocals; Aaron Burdett on guitar and vocals; Nicky Sanders on fiddle and vocals; Mike Ashworth on drums, dobro, percussion and vocals; and Barrett Smith on bass, guitar, and vocals — were more than enough to satisfy.
They opened the show with “Rumble Strips” from the new album showcasing the best of the bluegrass pacing and got us all tapping our feet. My personal favorite was “Fruit of My Labor” which featured Burdett’s guitar and vocals. It was an apt reminder that no matter the color of your collar, your work matters. It happened to be Ashworth’s birthday, so they gave him some mic time to explain the intricacies of his gold dobro, and they even pretended to let him pick a few songs, which I’m sure were already in the set list.
Their easy banter and witty comebacks weren’t too much and provided breath-catching moments between the songs. By the end, we all felt like family, if not a sweaty family in need of air conditioning.
If you get a chance, catch them live. It will get your blood flowing and is overall good for what ails you.
Our youngest has been a Samara Joy fan for a couple of years now even performing one of her songs, “Sweet Pumpkin,” at the Smoke Rise Academy of Arts Christmas showcase back in 2024. We didn’t calculate how close her jazz show at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra would be to our outing with the Steep Canyon Rangers, but I’m glad we didn’t let that keep us from indulging Carlton’s fandom.
After a fantastic dinner at Saints + Council, we walked across the street to the beautiful Woodruff Arts Center. Our seats were in the mezzanine, but there’s no bad spot in that venue to hear her amazing voice. She performed a number of standards from the likes of Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Thelonious Monk among others, but my favorite was her take on the classic, “Stardust.”
Part of the fun was seeing Carlton enjoy the music and feed his love of vocal performance. But just as with the Steep Canyon Rangers, an unlikely pairing with Samara Joy, to be sure, pausing life long enough to turn off my phone and take in the work of accomplished musicians was restorative in a profound way I didn’t appreciate when we bought the tickets.
It’s a benefit of living in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area that we have access to such a diverse range of performances. If we didn’t take advantage, we would be missing out. If you have to put up with the traffic, you should at least try to offset it with some cultural enrichment.
I am not a musician, I didn’t play one on TV and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I can appreciate the almost medicinal affect of attending live musical performances. Dr. New South Essays’ prescription for you is some great live music of your favorite genre in a nice venue, preferably with air conditioning. It’s good for what ails you.
New South Essays 