There’s a line in “Spring Petals in the Snow,” a ruminative number found on Mikaela Davis’ Graceland Way album, that has resonated with me since I first heard it: “Time moves forward but I’m lost in reverse.” It sums up my life these past few months: I’ve been speeding down the highway with my eyes glued on the rearview mirror.
At least, I was until last night. At the Pinhook club in Durham, NC—which reminded me a bit of the defunct Boot & Saddle in Philly—Davis and her crack band catapulted the 200-or-so fans through a cosmic portal. There was no past, no future, just the now—and drums and bass that, quite literally, vibrated through the body. It was intense, joyful, essentially pure bliss set to melodic song after song, with some candy-coated pop-rock (“Junk Love”), others meditative jams (“11:11,” “Wild Flower”), plus contemplative numbers (“Spring Petals,” “Mizmoon”) and, too, rollicking and frolicking delights that levitated the room, including “(Looking Through) Rose Colored Glasses,” “Starlight Tonight,” and “Nuthin’s on the Radio.” The set also featured a way cool cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Only Over You” plus, in a nod to us longtime fans, one of the five highlights from her long-agoPure Divine Love EP, “Little Bird.”
Mikaela arrived on stage wearing cosmic superhero costume of some kind, looking a bit—to borrow the phrase Diane used on our 45-minute ride home—“a sorceress in cowboy boots.” After some rudimentary tuning, the band kicked into “(Looking Through) Rose Colored Glasses,” one of the many highlights from my most-played album of the year thus far, Graceland Way. As indicated by my video, I was just a few feet away from her; I could (and probably should) have recorded more than two songs and snapped a ton more photos, but didn’t want come across as a human tripod. Instead, I spent the bulk of the night lost in the music. Certain artists make me eschew my oft-critical inclinations and Davis is one of them—she has the kind of lush voice one could bathe in for hours and, as importantly, the songs to go with it.
The band behind her was Southern Star sans guitarist Cian McCarthy: Alex Cote on drums, Shane McCarthy on bass, Kurt G. Johnson on pedal steel and guitar, and John Lee Shannon—who cowrote most of the new album with Mikaela—on guitar in Cian’s stead. Mikaela played harp, of course, but also switched to keyboards for several songs, including a jaw-dropping rendition of “Spring Petals.”
The concert wasn’t as jam-heavy as the Cat’s Cradle Back Room show that I caught in 2024, with the bulk of the songs tight and concise. The mood-inducing “11:11,” however, was a wild mix of Davis’ lustrous vocals, her contemplative harp, and Johnson wringing sounds from his guitar I haven’t heard since Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s feedback-palooza in 2012. (I’m fairly certain my soul left my body for a few minutes during the song.) “Nuthin’s on the Radio,” which ended the main set, was a rip-roaring riposte to radio static.
I’m sure some fans may have wanted a song or three from And Southern Star added to the 13-song set, given that all but three hailed from Graceland Way, but such criticism is a bit like saying Picasso should have used red instead of blue on his Three Musicians painting. It is what it is and, frankly, a great as it is. The same holds true of this night’s 80ish-minute set; every note, every lyric, hit home. It was a much-needed balm for an aging soul.
The setlist:
The Old Grey Cat 