On Friday, October 24, the me&thee coffeehouse welcomes Lindsay Mac and Natalia Zukerman to our stage. Lindsay Mac plays a cello like you have never seen before, but it is her songwriting and music that will have you humming as you leave the concert. Natalia Zukerman plays music in a genre best described as “bottle-neck country jazz.” Both are touring to celebrate new albums. Stop Thinking is Mac’s second and Brand New Frame is Zukerman’s fourth. Come celebrate their new releases.

Lindsay Mac is often referred to as “a classical education gone horribly wrong.” Yet the chances are that you will have a hard time forgetting her. Yes, she straps the cello to her body and strums and plucks it like a guitar while singing. But her songwriting is what makes her fans travel long distances to see her perform. She has limited her touring just a bit this year to finish her second album, but still managed to do the epic Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Preview Tour — 28 shows in 28 days — which included venues like The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Mac also showcased at the 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference and performed on the Main Stage at the Falcon Ridge Festival in July.

Lindsay Mac, originally from Iowa, was classically trained from at a young age on the piano and cello. After attending a public high school and, in the summer, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Lindsay enrolled in Dartmouth College to study medicine. She took time away from Dartmouth to study at the Royal College of Music in London and The San Francisco Conservatory as well as to be a professional ski patroller in Utah and bike messenger. She returned to Dartmouth, graduated, and started experimenting with her music while living in a cabin heated by a wood stove. It is there that she found her voice and her unique style was born. Fearing the cello might be used for kindling, she enrolled in Berklee College of Music and shortly thereafter began touring full-time. The rest is history.

…

Natalia Zukerman didn’t have to look far as a child to find musical influence as she comes from a family of noted classical musicians (her mother, Eugenia, is a flutist; her father, Pinchas, is a violinist; and her sister, Arianna, is an opera singer). Natalia grew up in Manhattan immersed in classical music. Her ears were tuned to perfect pitch, and the guitar dexterity, intricate sense of rhythm and meter evident in her own musicianship came naturally. So did the lifestyle of a traveling performer. Performing live — and experiencing what she calls the life of a “wandering gypsy” — is a family tradition. However, she has chosen to forsake grand performance halls for a dusty resophonic slide guitar in small clubs. Since 2004, Zukerman has been touring the country opening shows for roots greats and guitar slingers — me&thee regulars may remember her opening for Lucy Kaplansky not so long ago.

In a sense, Zukerman explores family heritage in “Song For Ramblin’ Jack,” one of the 10 original songs on Brand New Frame. She explains it is in part about blood-related family but even more so about the extended family of American troubadours who travel the country sharing both traditional and contemporary genres, songs, skills, instruments, and styles. “The song ‘Ramblin’ Jack’ came after a Folk Alliance conference in Austin. I realized there that I was a part of this grand tradition of troubadours that was, for me, as much about my own family of traveling musicians as a shared American history. I consider myself a student of traditional music, even though some would say the noise I make is not so traditional. I did meet Ramblin’ Jack at a friend’s place in Pt. Reyes, CA a few years ago. I loved him, loved his way of weaving a story and loved that I, in my own little way, try to carry on his legacy as much as the legacy of my own family.”

Photo by Bryna Gootkind

. . .

Smokey-voiced songstress [Natlia Zukerman] wisely mixes the rootsy styles on her fresh and fine Willy Porter-produced “Brand New Frame” album — from torch blues to country swing — to broaden reach and constituency. If you’re a fan of Madeleine Peyroux, Bonnie Raitt or even Amy Winehouse, you’ll find stuff to connect with here. Philadelphia Daily News (May 9, 2008)

Blending elements of country, folk and blues, Zukerman spins out songs of wonderful clarity and simplicity. The instrumentation is generally sparse, putting the focus on her impeccable guitar playing, clever songwriting and unique voice. As talented a songwriter as a musician, Zukerman has a flair for blending cleverness and pocket wisdom in lyrics like “This town is like New York/but only six doors deep.” I thought there was something familiar about her honey voice — Dolly Parton meets Ani DiFranco? — but the real point of comparison is that she sounds like an artist who’s fully realized, fully present, and should be headed for big things. Brian Jewell, Bay Windows (May 28, 2008)