Sarah Elizabeth Campbell & the Banned
Live
Sarah Elizabeth Campbell’s backup outfit is so catchily punned, it’s a little perplexing that the second and third songs on this KUT LiveSet are titled “The Rain Song” and “The Car Song” — especially since Campbell penned both (plus set opener “Bluesville”) with noted Nashville wordsmith Gwil Owen. Obviously, like Lou “Mambo No. 5” Bega, they have much more important things to worry about than titles, though for contrast, the grammatically abstruse “Bird That I Held in My Hand” and “Waiting for the Train to Come In” are right behind. Long titles or short, the songs are plain as trading-post gingham and as straightforward as a hernia exam. And that’s a good thing. A handy songwriting rule of thumb is the more highfalutin’ the language, the vaguer the meaning, and there’s little danger of any of these 12 songs being misconstrued. Campbell’s nicotine-kissed drawl, the geographical center between Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, and Lou Ann Barton, fits her material like Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland in a police lineup — illustrated quite vividly on well-chosen covers of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Richland Woman Blues” and Jimmie Rodgers’ “Prairie Lullaby.” All the necessary elaboration is handled courtesy of lead guitarist Brian Wood, mandolinist Paul Sweeney, bassist Dave Heath, and on three tracks, accordionist Chip Dolan. So she ain’t Tori Amos; I would imagine that suits Campbell and her close-knit cadre of Bummer Night regulars at Artz Rib House just fine.
This article appears in Carol Keeton Rylander.