Drift Away

Several weeks ago Marlina asked if there was someone I wanted to se at the Freight and Salvage. I procrastinated and then saw this singer guitarist named Ruthie Foster.

I listened to a couple of samples and thought she sounded intriguing . I told Marlina but we realized we could not go because of a previous commitment . Marlina checked the web site and saw she was playing at the Sofia in downtown Sacramento. “Let’s Go!” We arrive and Marc my brother had said there was easy street parking near the restaurant, which is almost next door to the theater.

We can’t find parking on the street, pull into a lot, car pulls in behind us when we see some outrageous price for parking. We head out the back and as we pull out there this an open diagonal parking spot in front of us. The space is less than 100 yds from the theater.We meet my brother and have a nice dinner. His partner Mary was unable to join us.

Sofia is a 400 seat theater very similar to the Freight and Salvage layout. There are great sight lines , even short people can see very well, and the sound was very good.

Light go down and the place erupts, people calling out to Ruthie and she calling out to them.

She works the front of the stage, then settles in behind the mic. She is solo tonight with two monitors, a medium size amp, and a microphone on a nice carpet.

She has a welcoming smile, a voice warm, joyful, and lots of laughter. She keeps saying how grateful she is to be in front of a live audience again , making it sound as if we are doing her a favor. That favor was about to get repaid with some serious interest .

She could not hear her vocal monitor so she starts singing a gospel chorus about it, until the engineers get it working.

She starts into a story and it is as if we are sitting at her kitchen table listening to stories about friends, music, family, and travel.

People ask what genre she sings, the easier question is what genre doesn’t she sing. Lucinda Williams, Johnny Cash, Mahalia Jackson, Mississippi John Hurt, not to mention her own great compositions. One of the wonderful things about her is how she reworks this music to impart her message and sound.

Then she started to sing and one immediately understands that you are in the presence of a powerful voice whose tones and inflections can carry you to a mountain top or caress you in a gentle murmuring stream.

When her voice ascends it is with a secure unforced power filled with the aforementioned tones and inflections. I would close my eyes and let her voice and guitar surround and fill me. It is as if you are cradled in this warm loving palm of a hand , completely secure, lifting you into a warm sky while floating amongst the clouds.

Such power .

At the peak of the crescendo you find yourself cradled on a leaf, gently rocking as you float downward, when WOOSH, her voice slips under you, lifting your physical and spiritual being into the heavens.

Now your back at the table and she is telling a story about the Mississippi John Hurt Festival held in Mississippi. There are stories of his cabin, the people who have preserved his legacy, stories about Taj Mahal, cream pies and church ladies.

She then is asking someone off stage about this Amp and if it is ,indeed made by hand. When it is affirmed she says” Hmm, I think that may just fit into my suitcase, I’ll come back for my clothes later”

What a wonderful way to acknowledge someone else’s skill and craft.

My eyes close and I’m carried away in another song. So now it is as if, her tones and inflections are fingers and palms caressing, massaging your physical spirit. Her voice ascends again even higher still with a strength that there is no doubt of her not reaching the notes she desires.

More stories and promises to return.

Song after song, each feeling refreshingly new. A feeling of amazement that her music can find so many parts of you with it’s tactile presence.

Her lyrics are supported, made more brilliant, and accentuated through the infusion of her guitar work.

This is completely captured in there song 4 AM from her latest CD titled ” Healing Time”. She captures what it is like be unable to sleep at 4 AM in a wholesome way that allows one to create instead of fret.

Her cover of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire is unlike anything I have heard or imagined. I never realized the depths of love being expressed until I heard her version

Top 3 concerts I have been to in my life I enjoyed every song and did not want it to end.

Christmas came early this year. Try to see her live, 2nd option is put on a set of headphones close your eyes and let her voice caress your spirit and let you drift away.

I am a lucky man.

Paul