Venue: High Dive
Date: April 13, 2009
Opener: Carrie Biell
Carrie Biell's Opening Set
In the very back of a packed dive bar in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood, local singer-songwriter Carrie Biell crooned her way through a set of quiet heartbreak songs. The sound was muddy, the mics were low, the crowd was restless. It was hard to hear much of her at all unless you looked hard and listened harder. It was the kind of music that slows you down and makes you stop. If you keep going, you miss it. Sad to say most of the bar probably missed out this night. Nonetheless, Biell's set was a nice primer for the main attraction: New England's Chris Pureka.
Chris Pureka
It's no secret that Massachusetts has a habit of churning out thoughtful, fluidly melodic singer-songwriters. There must be something in the water around Boston and Northhampton, the area that's brought us some of contemporary folk music's greatest female singer-songwriters, from Dar Williams to Kris Delmhorst and Erin McKeown. Chris Pureka is another among this running cast of talented New Englanders.With eyes closed and chin up, Pureka delivered a set of languid, introspective, fireplace tunes. Best among them was "California," which she slid in about halfway through the set. Also memorable was her playful interpretation of Old Crow Medicine Show's "Wagon Wheel," an easy crowd favorite whose solos were well-decorated by Julia Reed on fiddle. Also rounding out the band was multi-instrumentalist Lyndell Montgomery (perhaps best known as part of the Ember Swift band) on bass, cello and fiddle.
