Transcendence in song—that, in short, sums up the jam-packed set that Mikaela Davis and Southern Star delivered time and again at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room in Carrboro, NC, last night. About the only thing that could and would have made it better: If they’d played their last album, And Southern Star, from start to finish before moving onto the other loverly jams, which included a cool cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Candyman,” and also played for about another hour. Davis has the songs. Her band has the chops. That aside, they did play eight of that album’s nine songs, just sprinkled throughout the set. As for show length: Tickets were $20, which is a pittance in today’s concert-going world. We got more than our money’s worth.
The night opened with a sterling set from Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, who I was unfamiliar with until they hit the stage. I couldn’t make out all of Thompson’s lyrics, unfortunately, as the sound on the side of the club isn’t as solid as it is in the center, but man! He’s an ace guitarist. (You know that old saying: “Give a man a guitar solo and you make a man a fan.”)
Mikaela and band arrived on stage a few minutes after Thompson and pals exited, but not to play. She made like a roadie and helped cart her harp centerstage, then took a while tuning the angelic beast while her bandmates fiddled with their instruments. (By that time, as the videos below show, I’d moved to near the front of the stage.) About 10 minutes later, they launched into “Cinderella,” the opening track from And Southern Star. “In My Groove,” a highlight from her 2018 debut followed; Southern Star elevated it and the other older songs, which she recorded without them on Delivery, into another dimension.
The audience as a whole was a mix of older folks like me, 30-somethings and younger, with some dancing the best they could in such tight quarters. As Mikaela noted, there were a lot more in attendance than her last time through Carrboro early last year. (I learned of that show after the fact, unfortunately.)
One highlight came early in the set, when they launched into And Southern Star’s “Far From Home,” which finds Mikaela’s harp blending with Cian McCarthy’s double-neck guitar, which he played just on that song. (Side note: When was the last time I saw anyone play a double-neck guitar? Maybe never?) The rest of the band: Kurt Johnson on pedal steel and slide guitar, Shane McCarthy on bass and Alex Cote on drums. (Cian also played sax on a few tunes.)
Given that the last time I saw Mikaela was when she opened for the Staves in 2017 sans band, my only comparison for the older numbers are that show, the 2017 Pure Divine Love EP, which I purchased from her after that show, and the Delivery album. This band elevated each of those older songs into the stratosphere. Their rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Candyman” was quite nice, too.
The night ended with a 10-minute jam on Delivery’s “Other Lover” that featured band introductions. It was a great end to a great night. If she and her band are slated for a club in your neck of the woods, definitely make the effort to see them. They’re phenomenal.
The set list:
The Old Grey Cat 