Not to be overlooked
By now you’re likely fully dialed in for Lucinda Williams to headline Sunday’s Clock Tower Stage at Pig Out in the Park.
But one act you may be less familiar with that is not to be overlooked is Carrie Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is a friend and repeat opener for Williams, and an accomplished Americana artist in her own right, though her sound easily extends to purist rock n’ roll and country as well.
The 30-year-old multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and singer-songwriter has a strong reputation built on a bulletproof resume of duet albums with Chip Taylor.
On her sophomore solo effort, “This Ain’t Me,” the Brooklyn-based artist shares songwriting credits with the likes of Gary Louris (Jayhawks), Dan Wilson (Semisonic) and Mary Gauthier.
While Williams wasn’t a co-writer, she did collaborate with Rodriguez on her latest release by singing backup on “Mask of Moses.”
Of Rodriguez, Williams told the New York Times, “She’s got something in her voice that’s very subtle and a little smoky and sweet. I detect a certain wisdom in her, and yet a sense of wonder as well.”
A graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Rodriguez learned one of her first fiddle tunes from her at-the-time roommate, Casey Driessen, who plays with Bela Fleck and Tim O’Brien. Before that she was sitting in at soundchecks with family friend Lyle Lovett.
Rodriguez appears with a four-piece band on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. at the City Hall Stage at Riverfront Park for Pig Out in the Park. Admission is free. Cash donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank can be made at every Pig Out food booth.
Rock the yacht
It’s a stretch to say late ’70s soft-rock made a comeback, but it is the subject of internet hype.
That’s mainly because of “Yacht Rock,” the online comedy series that tongue-in-cheekly follows the fictionalized careers of soft-rock wonders such as Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, and the man himself, Michael McDonald.
Part of the appeal of the show is that it tampers with the incestuous careers of these accomplished musicians. For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins “This Is It,” and performed backing vocals for Steely Dan and Christopher Cross, in addition to his work with the Doobie Brothers.
The seventh episode of Yacht Rock finds Loggins and McDonald settling a decade-long bet when McDonald is kidnapped by a certain pair of Bay Area rappers who seek to use “I Keep Forgetting (Every Time You’re Near),” to invent a new genre: yacht rap.
The Internet spoof might clown making of the music but – like it or not – you can’t question the songs’ ability to burn a permanent spot in the human consciousness.
Five time Grammy winner Michael McDonald comes Sunday at 7 p.m. to Northern Quest Casino. Tickets for the 18-and-older show are $55, and $65, through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.com, (509) 325-SEAT.