Wings For Wheels

Tim has been telling me about Haley Bonar for a few years now, but I’ve always stayed away because I figured it was a case of his Twin Cities musical provincialism, to say nothing of her last name appealing to his juvenile sense of humor (even though it’s pronounced “Bonner”). Besides, I have an uneasy relationship with most female acoustic singer-songwriters. I call it A Curse Of Blue, the idea that too many young women listened to Joni Mitchell (A Curse Of Blue is, naturally, a take-off on A Case Of You) and decided that it was easy to set their diaries to music.

One of the points that I’ve repeated over the nearly four years that I’ve been writing WFW is that it’s not an artist’s job to put my life on tape, not theirs. Joni Mitchell is compelling because everybody can see a piece of themselves in her best lyrics. It was also a bonus that she set them to great melodies and is an incredible guitar player. Of her musical descendants, I’d say that 90% have nothing to offer, but oh, the other 10% – I’m looking at the likes of Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, and Rosanne Cash – get the point and have made many brilliant records over their long careers.

I was thinking of going to go to Schubas last night regardless of who was playing (it’s become a bit of a regular hangout for me). But when I saw that Bonar was performing for only $12, the decision was essentially made for me. I love going to see acts I’ve never heard for less than the price of a CD. If the artist is good, then it’s a small investment on what will hopefully be a long relationship with their music. If they suck, I can go back to the bar and drink the pain away.

Haley Bonar most definitely does not suck.

Of the women I listed above, she most closely reminded me of Colvin. Their voices and ranges are similar, although Bonar’s has surprisingly more power given that she’s a wisp of a woman (Colvin, however, is a better guitar player). Her three-piece band highlighted the quality of her songwriting rather than smother it. The guitarist created cool soundscapes through intricate combinations of a volume pedal, slide, reverb and feedback while the drummer worked his toms to great effect. The bass player didn’t have to do much more than play the root notes, but he provided excellent background vocals.

For the opening four or five songs, the performance was fine, but I thought the energy was a little lacking. She was being drowned out, which is surprising given that Schubas is famous for its excellent sound. She would later attribute it to a late night in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, but I was wondering if she would show the type of engaging personality that I expect from a singer-songwriter. But then the band left for a few songs and she began to open up more, and she was fine for the rest of the show.