A few eyebrows were raised when this show was announced and unsurprisingly the limited tickets were quickly snapped up. Maybe at this stage of her career, connectivity is driving Mary Gauthier, and there is no finer place to touch your audience’s hearts than the Kitchen Garden. Birmingham doesn’t always feature on the regular UK tour schedule for this esteemed Nashville songwriter but the small was made mighty in the love and affection offered to Mary and Jaimee Harris, the latter opening the show and playing accompanying guitar in the main set.
Happy place is an increasingly used concept to find fulfilment in an ever crazy world. For some, it’s concrete like the surroundings of a favourite venue, for others it might just be a companionship or state of mind. You sense Mary Gauthier being in her bright zone with a specific focus being the relationship with Jaimee Harris. The spark is forthcoming and a duo status is just a couple of rungs down the billing ladder.The enthusiasm was plain to see and warm to feel as we savoured a pair of sets pushing close to the two hour mark.
The music of Jaimee Harris has been gaining traction in the UK over the last couple of years to the extent of attracting new faces to a Mary Gauthier show. Instantly, her flamboyant attire drew a gasp and through an half hour opening set we learned a lot about the person- warts and all. Knowing their troubled backgrounds completes the jigsaw puzzle of how they are so good together. This evening we found out what an engaging and blossoming songwriter Harris is. Having an absolute legend close at hand helps, but she possesses so much innate class on her own.
‘Love is Gonna Come Again’ was the pick of the opening set for its stunning low key effect. ‘The Fair and Dark Haired Lad’ followed one of several stories packed into an informative and enlightening support slot. Many want more Jaimee Harris, though for now she is an important cog of a cherished package.
Songwriting saved Mary Gauthier and she is not one to keep the ability under wraps. For instance, her set opened with ‘The Meadow’, a co-write with the incredibly talented Ben Glover, highlighting the collaborative skills. Gauthier does not limit her shared writing with industry friends as exemplified with the soldier songwriting project from a few years ago. If anything the driver these days is as much about sharing than striving for commercial gain.
The set was classic Mary Gauthier. ‘Drag Queens In Limousines’, ‘I Drink’, ‘The Last Hobo King’, ‘Mercy Now’ and ‘Another Train’ have breathed life into so many live performances over the years and one more in Birmingham still upped their notch a touch. For me one key highlight was hearing a new song. ‘Some Time’ was written with Vince Gill and inspired by a photo of the iconic 50s train the Orange Blossom Special. The character in the picture yearned for their story to be told and one of the best in the business took up the challenge.
There were so many interesting asides to the songs that referencing each one would be a mammoth feat. However savouring them first hand in person is the best place to be. We learned this evening of a 25th anniversary commemoration for the classic DRAG QUEENS IN LIMOUSINES album and I’m sure the book is closed on some UK dates celebrating the milestone.
There were advanced reports of book readings from earlier shows. The two shared this evening ran to barely five minutes and coming from her memoir were relevant adding a further literary gloss to a show where words matter.
Both Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris were grateful to everyone who bought a ticket, and appeared to thrive in the intimate surroundings of the Kitchen Garden. The performance epitomised everything attracting you to exceptional songwriting especially which coalesces around Nashville Tennessee. The aurora exposed from such a melded relationship is like few others on the circuit. It was a happy place all round and more explicitly, a truly memorable night to house in the memory vault.