I love going to concerts, but do you know what I like better than going to a concert? Okay, maybe a few things, but hey, don’t let your imagine run too wild! The answer is: going to a concert while on vacation. That’s just what I was doing when I patronized Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday, July 23, 2019.
While staying for a few days in nearby Boston, I wanted to get out and see a show at least once while I was in the area. As I’d noted some musicians I like stopping at Club Passim in their list of tour locations, I decided to check out who was on the venue’s calendar. A young bluegrass band named Pretty Saro was scheduled to hold an album release show during my trip. Checking out their music via some YouTube videos, I’d thought I would enjoy hearing them play live and so I made my reservation.
Opening for the group was a friend of the band and a worker at Club Passim, Hannah Siglin. This young woman, who recently trained at the Berklee School of Music, sang and played her Taylor acoustic guitar like she was part of the late 1960’s folk music revival. Hannah opened with a song from her favorite songwriter, Nick Drake, “One of These Things First.” She was accompanied by Noah Harrington on the double bass. This set the mood for what was to come. Though the remainder of the set consisted of original songs, one could clearly hear the influence of Drake’s music in her own compositions and a strong connection to the soft, honey-voiced and flowing finger-picked guitar that is a signature of some of the most well-loved folk musicians.
The first of her original songs was “Little While.” She introduced another song, “For Long,” as having been written in Spain during a semester abroad, when she was feeling out of place and as if she was an impostor in that country, where she didn’t speak the language. Hannah dedicated one song to “Noah,” but noted it was not about the Noah performing on stage next to her. Hannah announced she will release an album herself on November 4, 2019, and played the song that will be the first track, “Felicity.” She played a total of eight songs in her set, including one that was written recently. You can listen to some of these tracks on her Soundcloud site.
Pretty Saro then took the stage to kick off their album release show for their new offering, Racing Back to You. They are a bluegrass-inspired quartet (bluegrass, new grass, contemporary bluegrass, modern bluegrass, or whatever nomenclature floats your boat) consisting of Max Anderson on mandolin, Alex Formento on guitar, Devon Garner on fiddle, and Joe Everett on double bass. Their voices converge adeptly on many of the songs, creating a full vocal sound in the tradition of many bluegrass/folk/country groups with names that end in “Family” or “Brothers.” It was a pleasure to see them also taking turns on some of the lead vocals, which kept the show fresh and created a more diverse listening experience.
Their set followed as such:
- They began with a cover of a bluegrass song called “Cold Sheets of Rain,” with wonderful full group singing — their voices blend nicely when singing together as they are well matched. I would say none of these guys has a particularly powerful voice for singing lead, but in this style of music, the homegrown tone works just fine.
- Next, a fiddle tune, which I was not able to identify.
- Then they played an original song called “Hindsight” that is included on the new album. It explored the theme of staying versus leaving and the emotions of the heart struggling with the logic of the brain. It was influenced by a friend telling them, “I left my guitar in Colorado,” which also turns up as a line in the song. Mandolin player Max took lead vocal on this one.
- Another song from the album was “Come Back,” which is about, according to Max, “somebody who is definitely not coming back.” As an audience member, I could sense the band opening up more, shaking off their nerves, and letting themselves enjoy playing the music. There was a sweet instrumental breakdown in the middle of the tune, and after concluding the song, Max admitted that he had borrowed that breakdown from an ear training textbook! This was one of my favorites of the night and while they lyrics were fairly simple, I borrowed a snippet for the title of the post.
- Guitarist Alex sang lead for their cover of the song “Hard Hearted,” originally by Jim and Jesse McReynolds.
- Fiddle player Devon took his turn singing lead on another song from the new album, a wistful one called “An Hour More.”
- Max introduced the next song by talking about having been to Parksville, New York and how the town has become like a ghost town. One bright spot in the area is a venue called Cabarnet Frank’s, which Pretty Saro has played at. The song “Ghost Town” was about this situation where a perfectly fine town is affected by the building of a highway that bypasses it. Appreciated Devon’s evocative fiddling on this tune. This song was another highlight for me.
- Next was one of Alex’s tunes from Pretty Saro’s earlier EP, “Backward Ritual.”
Bass player Joe Everett stepped up to the microphone announcing, “Here’s a song about my time in prison,” as the band launched into a cover of Johnny Cash’s, “Folsom Prison Blues.” It was a lot of fun to hear Joe pairing his singing with showing off his skills on the bass.
- Before beginning the next tune, the band announced that their show was coinciding with Max’s golden birthday (23 years old on the 23rd of the month). Well, that is one memorable way to celebrate a birthday! Devon took a turn again on lead vocals, as the group performed a favorite tune from the group Hot Rize, “You Were on My Mind This Morning.”
- Back to playing their own music, Pretty Saro performed a song titled “Another Day” from their new album.
- Next they performed an instrumental number, “Horseplay.” This is one of the songs that I had listened to prior to seeing their show. It reminded me of Nickel Creek and that definitely influenced my decision to attend that night. I am sharing the video I had watched below.
- Hannah Siglin returned to the stage and she and Alex sang a duet of “Won’t You Come and Sing For Me,” originally by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. This was a sweet moment in the set: adding a female voice to the mix and seeing the group of friends all playing together.
- Then it was time for one more traditional fiddle tune: “Cumberland Gap.”
- They ended the show by playing the first song off their album, a song Max described as, “Not the nicest song ever written, but I stand behind it.” They performed, “Did You Not Hear Me?” which I am again sharing as a video from YouTube, though not from that night’s performance.
As I had expected, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this band perform. Once they loosened up after the first couple songs, they brought a fun, positive energy to the stage. In a genre that can become repetitive if not careful with the choice and order of songs, Pretty Saro kept it feeling fresh through mixing up originals and covers, songs with lyrics and instrumentals, full group singing and solo singing, and changing up the lead vocalists. I can imagine this band being a fun and memorable addition to any bluegrass festivals that sign them up. I’m eager to watch their journey. and I hope to see them touring on the West Coast in the future.