By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
60-second Review
The St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Cafe folk series, and the acoustics of the Royce Auditorium, was made for nights like the Feb. 19 visit by Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal, she of the quintessential country voice and he of the acoustic guitar mastery.
Cash, accompanied only by Leventhal — her husband, guitarist extraordinaire, surprisingly subtle pianist, and talented writer/producer — offered up a nearly 2-hour, 18-song set that almost equally left the sell-out audience in blissful silence and had them springing to their feet in appreciation, some before the song actually finished.
The pair’s set fittingly relied heavily on songs from her most recent release, 2018’s She Remembers Everything, co-written by Cash and Leventhal, who also co-produced the songs with Tucker Martine (The Decembrists, My Morning Jacket, Mavis Staples; to name just a few).
Some of the newer songs hint, if not actually shout, about the current sad state of affairs of an America tribalized by politics, reeling from societal conflicts, and grappling with religious and family transitions. Leading off the night with “The Only Thing Worth Fighting For” — “Work me like a battlefield/Locked inside a holy war/Your love and my due diligence/The only thing worth fighting for” — was no accident.
And the album’s title song itself, and Cash’s introduction of “She Remembers Everything”, offered stark commentary on the status of women in the home, the workplace and the modern world.
But other songs on the new recording harken back to the everlasting focus of all great country/folk/Americana music: the relationships between lovers and life partners that fail as often as they succeed. “Crossing to Jerusalem”, she explained, is a beautiful commentary on Rosanne and John’s 25-year journey in marriage, and a shared love of music. — “This is our deal with the sinners and saints/The law and up above/We’ll be crossing to Jerusalem/With nothing but our love”.
But Cash did not forget her past in the set list, picking selectively and effectively from her very early years (1981’s “Seven Year Ache”); her 2009 release The List, an album based on a list of 100 greatest country and American songs that father Johnny Cash gave her when she was 18 (incuding covers of “Long Black Veil” and “Ode to Billy Joe”); and her Grammy winning 2015 release The River & the Thread (“A Feather is Not a Bird”).
The duo’s two-song encore was a direct homage to country/folk musics past. First with a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Tennessee Flat Top Box” — one of the many songs on which Leventhal and his guitar work shined — and well as the classic “500 Miles Away from Home.”
Cash and Leventhal sent everybody home, like a good country meal, well satisfied.
May I have more, please?
Never heard of Johnny Cash’s list of 100 must-listen “essential” country/folk songs?
The list includes, at least as recounted and recorded by Rosanne, the expected — “Motherless Children”, the southern gospel traditional popularized by the Carter Family, and “Take These Chains From My Heart”, the last song Hank Williams recorded. But also some you might not expect, including “Girls from the North Country” by Bob Dylan.
Rosanne’s complete list from her father is apparently still unknown, and she is not taking at this point. See one of many stories here.
For information and tickets on remaining St. Cecilia Music Center 2019-20 season concerts visit scmc-online.org.
