Saturday night was a cozy night at the Aster Café with Vicky Emerson and Annie Fitzgerald. The room was full of musicians and music lovers.
Seeing Vicky and Annie is like eating crème brulee – sweet but in different ways. Annie is like the sweet sharp top of the crème brulee and Vicky is creamy base. A great combination together in part because they are both such good storytellers.
Vicky started with Long Gone, a song that always has a hint of an Irish lilt to me. It might be the violin, it might be the toe-tapping darkness. She played several songs off her new CD, including one of my favorite covers ever, Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. So sophisticated when you hear it as a kid. Not quite as much when you listen as an adult. But her torchy version brings back the sophistication. It rivals one of my long standing favorite covers, Eleni Mandell doing Don’t Touch Me by Jeannie Sealy.
I was also thrilled to hear The Reckoning, a song that will be on the playlist for Women’s March Minnesota for the March on Saturday. Vicky’s voice sounds like hot chocolate feels.
Annie’s voice has a lightness; to use her own song title, her voice Feels Like Summer. She goes from cheerful imploring on Listen Carefully to a sassiness in Black and Blue. Annie’s voice sounds like lemonade tastes – sweet and refreshing.
Mostly Minnesota 