- JODI DARBY
- Marisa Anderson
If your Memorial Day weekend isn’t overstuffed with BBQs be sure to leave a little room in your schedule for concerts; there’s a strong lineup of shows this weekend, and it’s worth holding off on that third helping so you aren’t too full of grilled meats to head to at least a couple gigs on this list.
“When I listen to Marisa Anderson’s solo guitar music, I think of Sun Ra’s poem about Tone Scientists,” writes Bill Meyer. “It wasn’t enough for Ra that his musicians hit the notes; he wanted them to play with precision, discipline, and an awareness of tone and architecture. Anderson, who’s based in Portland, Oregon, has paid her dues and done her research: she played in country, circus, and jazz bands before applying her acumen to a series of solo instrumental records for acoustic and electric guitar and lap steel. On her latest LP, Traditional and Public Domain Songs (Grapefruit), her performances of chestnuts such as ‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’ and ‘Farther Along’ are structurally sound and patiently paced, allowing the audience to soak in her waves of Pops Staples-style reverb and be hypnotized by her Elizabeth Cotton-inspired fingerpicking.”
Sun 5/25: Invisible Things at Burlington
