in situ:

In the past few weeks I got to enjoy the voracious and intense music of a couple of my favorite roots preachers. I tagged along with my brother-in-law Josh Garrels and his wife Michelle to rural Candada where he did a show of vocal wonder in a quiet church setting. The wood of the vaulted ceilings seem to marry his croonings nicely. And the Canadians just couldn't get enough.

A week or so later, I got my first chance to see the enchanting and ferocious David Eugene Edwards operating under the title Woven Hand at Neumos in Seattle. If you have ever been to a bar show for a singer/songwriter you are aware that it is usually hard to hear the music over the clank of bottles and boisterous voyeurs. However, this man commands quiet attention and he silenced the crowd with his raw passion and intensity. Nothing like seeing a bearded man bent over a lyre singing dark spirituals only to see to his head rise, eyes blackened with straight stare declaring, 'Kiss the Son, lest he be angry'. Kinda makes your kneels buckle. My friend Matt queried at some point, 'I don't think we're supposed to applaud'. woven hand photo credit Greg Perez KEXP