In which Megarita is struck dumb

I went to a show last night. I rarely ever do this anymore, simply because there aren't that many bands who I want to see that I can afford to see! Thankfully I have friends who think of me and think "even Megarita can get her ass in gear for this." So out I went on a Saturday night to see Vic Chesnutt.

Vic was a staple of the Woof U (aka Athens, GA) music scene. He was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident when he was around 20, and his recording career follows this event. He's a crazy looking guy with an amazing soulful voice. I never really appreciated him when I was in Athens, but it was great to see him again and hear that scolding yelp out of him. He was in fine voice, but in a dirgy mood, if that's even a word. It was so drab and draining, his music, that I ended up bailing at 12:30. Also, I felt that I'd already seen the best thing that night: his opening act:

His niece, Liz Durrett.

We had seen the new band come up on the monitors in the bar next to the club (GREAT FEATURE!) and seen Vic wheel onstage, so we moved inside, Sweetwater 420s in hand. [Quick beer aside: one of the happiest discoveries of moving to GA has been the Sweetwater Brewing company. Their 420 is cheap and truly excellent. So is their summer hummer. I'm so proud to buy local and actually love drinking it.] Then this woman started singing, and her voice made the entire place go totally silent. I've never seen this happen before at a club. There's alway some putz yakking about something. Sometimes the putz is me.

This time there was stunned silence. The girl couldn't be more than 20, and the voice that came out of her mouth seemed effortless. My little group of friends all turned to one another and tried to figure out an analogue:

"Neko Case?"
"Jenny Lewis?"
"Momentary Academic?"
"Catpower!"
"Catpower. She's Catpower with more professionalism and more edge."*
"I want her to do a voice-over for my life."
"I need her to sing me to sleep."
"Damn, I'm getting the CD. Who is this girl?"

*With Apologies to poor Chan, but damn, woman, you've burned us all on tour at one time or another! Love The Greatest, though! Call me?

We sat through her set completely blissed out. Her last song was the best of all, but it's not even released yet. You could have heard a pin drop as she was finished. It's called something like "Unafraid" or "Unashamed."' Even the bartender stopped tossing bottles and the CD sales girl stopped yakking to people. There was total respect in that tiny club. I've got the CD on now, and even though she doesn't have the backing band, she's still damn incredible.

This is no music blog, but that's my 2 cents. I feel bad that I had to bail on Vic, but after you've heard that voice, it was hard to hear dirges at 1 am. Went home, and slept until noon. Being cool is exhausting, honey bunnies.