Ben Sollee & Daniel Lee Martin preview
Space, Evanston
Friday, March 12, 2010
Solo singer/songwriter Kentuckians get semi-Appalachian on songs bemoaning the mining destruction of the homestate’s environment.
‘Cuz otherwise Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Not true. Still, you could probably launch tactical nuclear weapons in a 20-mile, bluegrass radius in Kentucky without finding someone willing to concede there are environmental issues afoot. The thrust of this spring’s Dear Companion is not only a shared love of regional roots music (though there’s plenty of that), but also a loathing of mountain-top removal (MTR), a controversial mining technique that’s doing all sorts of heinous things to people who live in mining regions. “Only A Song” pretends to dismiss activist music, though anyone who hears it — especially in the context of the album — will know better.
This is a separate ticketed performance from Tributosaurus, earlier in the evening. Also appearing Saturday the 13th at Schubas in Chicago.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download “Something, Somewhere, Sometime.”
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly
