Old and New Glory
 by Cliff Garber  ·  4 November 2006

If you can say that a coffeehouse has a mandate, this evening’s concert fulfilled it. We had two great artists, one a folk legend, and one at the beginning of a brilliant career. Both write and perform their own songs as well as a range of other music old and new. Both have the same name — Andersen — and have played with each other before, so it wasn’t surprising that their unrehearsed collaboration went so well. The highlights for me were Joyce’s singing of Eric’s wrenching “For What Was Gained” (to his accompaniment on our gorgeous Falcone piano) and a beautiful rendition of “Blue River” to close the concert, which showed Eric’s dark and husky voice to great advantage.

The evening was studded with gems. While Eric focused on songs from more recent albums — and a number of blues — he treated his old fans to “Violets of Dawn” and “Close the Door Lightly.” Joyce opened the show with three of her tunes, singing, fiddling, and playing guitar (and playing her fiddle like a guitar). This was the first time I saw her, and I am a fan for life. The girl is up there with Alison Krauss, the Dixie Chicks — you name the big names, she’s in their league. If anything, her voice is even better and her stage presence is totally assured.

It’s a very happy night when we can fulfill both parts of our mandate at once: bringing you great favorites who are still going strong after all these years and young artists who need a little more exposure to make the leap into stardom. Let’s hope that when Joyce is in a higher orbit, she’ll remember us kindly, as Eric does, and return.

Photos by Kathy S-B

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