Christian Lee Hutson Setlist
Fenne Lily Setlist
Work Wife Setlist
Tour Dates 05/24- Milwaukee, WI @ Back Room
05/25 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall 05/26 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe 05/27 - Toronto, ON @ Legendary Horseshoe Tavern 05/30 - Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace 05/31 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 06/02 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 06/03 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 06/04 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat 06/05 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 06/06 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West 06/07 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East 06/09 - Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge 06/10 - Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips 06/11 - Austin, TX @ The Parish 06/13 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf 06/15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge 06/16 - West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour Read More
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The indie folk live pairing of Bristol, UK native (and a Brooklyn resident since the Fall) Fenne Lily and Americana singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson has been on the road for a short while, but this tour leg (which began at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS) has added Brooklyn up-and-comers Work Wife (Meredith Lampe, Cody Edgerly and Kenny Monroe) to the bill, complete with their brand-new banjo player.
The two headliners would trade off which band closes out the show. For the first night of the tour, Fenne Lily closed out Lawrence. For the second night, Christian Lee Hutson closed out the Fine Line.
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The Bottleneck, Lawrence (05/22)
The Bottleneck, Lawrence (05/22)
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Work Wife just released their Quitting Season EP in December (on Born Losers Records), but are already looking forward playing several new tracks (expected on their sophomore EP later this year) debuted live for the first time. We liked what we heard and expect them back soon, most likely headlining.
Christian Lee Hutson is out in support of last Spring’s (similarly-named) Quitters full-length (produced by Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst and on ANTI- Records) and we saw all three play live in Minneapolis in 2019. Hutson continued a story between the songs of his hour-long set, about his father getting in some scuffle at Kid Rock’s Nashville restaurant, which inspired Hutson to dream of opening his own establishment, eliciting crowd suggestions of what might be on the menu.
Fenne Lily would describe Hutson’s music as “excellently ambiguous”, while her own music, in support of Big Picture (out just last month via Dead Oceans) has a claustrophobic intimacy about it, recorded through the pandemic-era shut-in period and of a relationship from its beginnings to end, though the songs teeter to easily morph into something of a bigger sound.
All three acts seemed like a comfortable fit in touring together (and Work Wife and Fenne Lily each sitting in to help play a track on another’s set), all had a collectively symbiotic, indie folk sound, and the trio of rising acts made for a laid back and enjoyable weeknight evening.
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Fine Line, Minneapolis (05/23)
Fine Line, Minneapolis (05/23)
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“Spending ten hours in the car can put a strain on the bum.” Or something to that effect, said Fenne Lily in a lovely Bristol accent and a voice that Pitchfork Magazine has described as “… a warmth and a quaver that can wring pathos from the most conversational lines.”
I imagine there are not many opportunities in England where you spend most of the day traveling in the car, but when you just played in Laurence, Kansas with the next show in Minneapolis, the “bum” is going to take a hit.
Work Wife opened the evening with a seven song set, a highlight being “Brian Eno”, a song that started off with the bands reserved tone but moved into a free-wheeling cosmic jam lead by Cody Edgerly on drums.
“One the road for one day,” said lead singer, Meredith Lampe, “And already forgot the day of the week.” Then she went on to describe the journey of getting there: Flying into Texas to pick up her friend Rachel who wanted to join the band in order to take them to the CC Club after the show. But only after they picked up Isaac (on steel guitar and banjo) in Oklahoma and performed a show in Kansas.
Fenne Lily took the stage next, starting off with “Map of Japan”, maybe the best song on her new album, Big Picture, an album that she wrote during the pandemic.
Lily was quite funny in between songs, maybe sharing more information than what the audience wanted to hear or maybe not. She talked about her upcoming period and wisdom teeth finally coming in. She went on about her grandfather being a real piece of work aka alcoholic and how he could inhale one cigarette in one breath. Then onto the pandemic and how it turned the whole world upside down, especially on her block where single vegan neighbors eventually turned into child-bearing steak eaters.
In between musings she sang songs as Paste Magazine described as “… successful meditation(s) on tension, an act of sitting in discomfort.” For example, “Berlin” is a song about living by herself and eating black licorice and “Pick” is about people who need help but don’t ask for it. (Not her granddad)
Lily ended the set with “Birthday” a song about being cheated on by a musician with another musician. All parties were to be unnamed, but she was interested in any guesses at the merch table.
Christian Lee Hutson finished the evening, starting off with “Strawberry Lemonade”, the first song on his latest album Quitters.
Like Lily, Hutson was also pretty funny in between songs, complaining to the crowd that on his tenth birthday his dad took him to get chicken wings. He said he started touring at age seventeen and for seven years it was mostly playing in spaghetti restaurants.
Lily joined him on stage for “Twin Soul”. And after he sang “Get the Old Band Back Together”, he said it was the dumbest song he ever wrote. He wrote it as a joke, but the producer, a one Phoebe Bridges, liked it so much she put it on the new album.
And while Hutson tuned his guitar between songs, he wanted to know if the audience had any questions. Someone asked if he ever played at Buca di Beppo (spaghetti restaurant). Not yet. Someone then asked about Taylor Swift. No opinion. Then another wondered if would be at the CC Club later.
“Will see,” he grinned.
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Fenne Lily at Lawrence, Kansas (22 May 2023) |
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Christian Lee Hutson at Fine Line, Minneapolis (23 May 2023) |
dave + john ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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