Caught in the Carousel

Bonnie Whitmore's sophomore album, Embers to Ashes encapsulates everything that folk and country have always offered—stories that sometimes hit too close to home and melodies that make you sway with a drink in hand. Whitmore's songwriting, however, takes country music out of its contemporary realm, often resulting in a picture of the darker side of heartache and lost love. With an obvious foundation in classic country, Whitmore's attitude on her album and at her live show actually exemplify a revival of the harder and more honest side to the genre once led by Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash and other songwriting legends.

It was an interesting night in the East Village for a country show, as the Yankees and Phillies were duking it out on the baseball field in Game 6 of the World Series. Though the cheers certainly bothered me, forcing me to move closer and sit right at the merch table, Whitmore did not let it kill her night; in fact, she used it to her advantage. Opening with "Please Take the Words Back," a plea-stricken tune that begs the memory to recall Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou," the singer teased the crowd as cheers echoed from the back after an apparent Yankee score, joking at the close of the song, "That was for me, right?!" Whitmore continued to display her quick wit after her second song, when she introduced The Madison Square Gardeners' keyboardist, Bryn Roberts, and announced the assorted items accepted as payment for the evening's performance: "Bryn will take a Powers neat, and I'll take Jameson on the rocks with water. We have a note over there with the CDs—if you wanna take me home I'm only twelve dollars."

Bonnie Whitmore

Whitmore's playful charm was mostly reserved for the transitional stages of the show, with the seriousness of her message coming out through her lyrics and soulful stares across the room (at times it looked as though she was singing to someone only she could see at the back of the bar). The singer's ability to work the audience conflated with the acknowledgement of her own struggle with the emotions involved in getting betrayed by someone you thought you knew more than yourself. Whitmore's balancing act was nothing short of impressive—the ease with which she shifted between teasing with the crowd to explaining the inspiration for her next track exemplified her self-awareness not only as a singer-songwriter, but as a person just trying to survive along with everyone else. By the middle of her set, Whitmore was stomping her boots and inserting improvisational howls into her cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait," while also showing off some of her bite as she introduced her own single, "Tin Man," declaring, "Nothing says 'fuck you' like an up-tempo, catchy song!"

In just thirty minutes Bonnie Whitmore showed what performing real songs was all about: honesty, interaction and fearlessness. Besides being well on her way to songwriting success in Nashville, Ms. Whitmore symbolizes the folk legends throughout history that have done nothing but sacrifice in order to tell their story and give people something they can count on: honest music and a fan-inclusive live show.

Set list courtesy of Bonnie Whitmore

—Liz Imler
www.MusicSoldiers.com

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