Eliza Gilkyson
One of the best singer-songwriters roaming the Americana scene recently played in front of about seventy people at the Grant R. Brimhall Library in Thousand Oaks as part of the Bodie House concert series. Midway through the show, when Eliza Gilkyson called for requests, she received the predictable response:
“’Man of God’!” chorused half-a-dozen front-row folks.
“Y’know, I’m taking a break from that one for a while,” Gilkyson drawled thoughtfully about the song that is a scathing indictment of the Bush administration’s policies and actions. “I think we have enough on our hands to worry about these days, don’t we?”
Gilkyson’s always had a knack for wedding original melodies with eloquent lyrics. Her singing voice is truly unique, simultaneously silken and smoky. She also boasts a bit of a musical pedigree: her father was Terry Gilkyson, the well-regarded songwriter (perhaps best known for penning “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book) and a member of the 50s folk group The Easy Riders. Her brother Tony played guitar for L.A. cowpunk bands X and Lone Justice. And while Eliza has been recording since 1969, her career has risen to a new level over the past half-dozen years, starting with the release of Land of Milk and Honey in 2004. That CD was Grammy-nominated for “Best Contemporary Folk Album,” and paved the way for the gorgeous Paradise Hotel and her most recent release, Beautiful World.
“Man of God” was a defining moment for her at a particular time in her career, and her soft refusal to play it this evening indicated a slight change in focus for Gilkyson. Tonight, she steered clear of politics and the insightful lyrics that have fueled some of her modern protest songs. Instead, she and accompanying guitarist Nina Gerber performed nearly two-and-a-half hours of her best tunes about love, loss, hope, and bittersweet memories. The audience seemed intimately familiar with her work, and Gilkyson obliged the many requests that were called out: “Coast,” “Borderline,” “Think About You,” “Lights of Santa Fe,” “Dark Side of Town,” and many more. She drew heavily from the Beautiful World CD (“Clever Disguise,” “The Party’s Over,” “Dream Lover,” “Runaway Train,” a singalong on “Wildewood Springs,” a whistle-along on “Emerald Street”), but wasn’t shy about lifting tunes from all phases of her impressive body of work. It’s always good to hear “Beauty Way” and “Welcome Back,” and for pure fun you can’t beat the swaggering suggestive “Mama’s Got A Boyfriend.” Changing gears, Gilkyson then unveiled the heart-breaking “Tender Mercies,” an Eliza classic as well as a textbook example of how to write a wholly original, yet traditionally structured, song.
Gilkyson is an adequate and understated guitarist, so it was good to hear her songs framed and highlighted by quiet Americana legend Gerber. Gerber always seems to know which notes to play and, equally important, when not to play at all. For her, intuitive silences are part of the musical spectrum. She has played with everyone from Kate Wolf to Dave Alvin (on his recent “Guilty Women” tour), and she proved to be a perfect complement to Gilkyson’s strumming and chording style. Gerber wasn’t flashy, but she provided subtle indoor fireworks throughout the evening. She played both within and along the outskirts of Eliza’s melodies, adding a jazzy flavor here, a Spanish accent there, now and then a totally original and surprising country & western harmonic line. Gerber is more than capable of tearing loose with a shredding solo, but that wasn’t her role with Eliza. She remained in the background, rarely saying a word, wearing an easy smile, readily conceding the spotlight so that the star could shine. Her only extravagance? That would be having her gentle traveling canine companion (cross my heart, I think she said the dog’s name was Tootsie Roll) share the stage with the two musicians.
Two and a half hours is a pretty long concert, and so there was a brief break between sets. Now here’s a word about intermissions at the Bodie House shows: there’s always a potluck table replete with desserts and side dishes, with desserts being the dominant theme. One sturdy, health-conscious soul had gallantly brought a vegetable tray, but the curling carrot sticks and soggy celery stalks were poor competition for the orgy of chocolate surrounding them. Blame hostess Renee Bodie, who gleefully encourages the decadence by repeatedly coaxing, “There’s no such thing as too much chocolate.” Between devouring junk food, stepping outdoors for a cleansing breath of cool autumn air, and socializing with the affable Tootsie Roll, we returned refreshed for the second half of the concert.
Back to the music, and it’s worth noting that Joan Baez has recently recorded two of Gilkyson’s songs, “Rose of Sharon” and “Requiem.” Eliza performed both of these tonight, with “Requiem” being her masterstroke of the evening. She wrote the song in response to the horrific Asian tsunamis of late 2004, and it resonated exponentially almost a year later when Hurricane Katrina struck and flooded much of New Orleans. “Requiem” is both a lament and a call for salvation, beautifully sung and played:
Mother Mary, full of grace, awaken
All our homes are gone, our loved ones taken
Taken by the sea
Mother Mary, calm our fears, have mercy
Drowning in a sea of tears, have mercy
Hear our mournful plea
Oh, mother Mary, come and carry us in your embrace
That our sorrows may be faced
Tough tune to follow, and maybe that explained my disappointment with Eliza’s subsequent performance of “Beautiful World”. First, it’s never been one of my favorites, even on CD. Its repetitive chorus (“Beautiful world, beautiful world, beautiful world…” You get the idea.) is, I think, supposed to work a mellow, memorable groove in your mind, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with the song’s noble sentiments. I just think it’s one of her weaker latter-day efforts, almost atonal, and her live performance did nothing to endear me it. However, it was the one song that she played on the library’s fine piano, and it was a treat seeing and hearing Gilkyson on keyboards.
But then, of course, she finished strong, saving one of her father’s better-known songs for the encore. “Memories are Made of This” was popularized by Dean Martin, and Eliza turned it into a feel-good, audience sing-along show-closer. It was a sweet daughterly tribute and a hummable way to end the evening. Eliza Gilkyson tours the Southland almost every October, and I’ll be one of the first in line to see her again in 2010.
The Grant R. Brimhall Library is located at 1401 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. For more information about Bodie House concerts, log on to www.bodiehouse.com.
Review by Rod Williams – LMA Street Team Member
