Saturday Revelry and Sunday Prayers

In my earliest memory I am standing in church looking up at the stained glass windows.  I tug my Mother’s sleeve, pointing at the windows, “Is God up there? I asked.  I didn’t get an answer.  Talking is not permitted in Catholic churches.

This last weekend I spent Sunday afternoon in church, the sun again glinting through stained glass windows.  Happy crowds were chattering before and after angelic music.  No, the Church rules about talking have not suspended, at least as far as I know.  And I was not rekindling the long-dead embers of my Catholic faith. But I do think something akin to religious was going on.

We had traveled last weekend to Cincinnati for Over the Rhine’s (“OTR”) Christmas concert at the Taft on Saturday night.  And stayed for the “Sunday Soiree” at St. Elizabeth’s, an old Catholic Church. 

The Taft is a lovely venue with wonderful acoustics.  But the resonance of OTR’s music in the old St. Elizabeth’s church provides an almost celestial sound.  Karin Bergquist’s voice also is compelling.  She is the female signer, songwriter and musician of the husband-wife team that is the core of OTR.  If Tom Waits’ voice is a glass of whiskey with a chaser of gravel, Karin’s is a full pour of fine Pinot Noir, rich and red with sweet cherry undertones and a smoky after-flavor from barrel aging.  OTR’s music leaves a warm glow.

Both concerts were standouts, if not the classic “Merry Christmas” affairs.  OTR has a melancholy take on Christmas in many of their songs.  Such as “All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue” and “All My Favorite People" (are broken), which were performed at both concerts.  “Snow Angel,” “Sacred Ground” (a new song), and “The Very First Snowfall of a Very Long Year," all part of the Taft performance, continued the sweet melancholic feeling some of us experience at this season.

Karin was in full-throated voice both Saturday and Sunday, accompanied on piano and guitar by Linford Detweiler, the other half of the songwriting and married partnership that is the core of OTR.  On Sunday, Jason Goforth, on harmonica, lap steel guitar and various instruments, and Nick Radina on percussion also gave stellar performances.  Saturday’s concert was enhanced by Tim Luntzel on bass and Tommy Perkinson on drums.

Lucy Wainwright Roche, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III (“he of “Dead Skunk"-- in the middle of the road--fame) and sister to Rufus, opened for OTR’s concert at the Taft.  To Karin’s full red, Lucy’s voice is a Pinot Grigio, crisp and clear and cool, taking away your breath at moments when she hits impossibly-high notes with apparent ease.  Her lovely singing is interspersed with charming chatter that seems as easy as her high notes. 

Karin and Lucy beautifully harmonized on two songs, Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” and to add a touch of classic Christmas, “Silent Night.”  The two OTR concerts left me convinced that for the rest of this holiday season I am  better off staying home with a glass of red listening to music than going to a shopping mall.