Review: The Out Of Towners Are Outta Sight When Meghan Kirk and Carolyn German Play DON'T TELL MAMA In The Same Day

I love looking for new talent, for artists whose work is unknown to me, for shows that are one-offs playing a club, possibly slipping under a radar that would be better if they were on the radar. To that end, I regularly scan the nightclub calendars, looking for acts that might jump out and grab me by the lapels and say, "Come to the cabaret," and yesterday I caught a double feature at Don't Tell Mama that was born out of one of those searches... and, surprise, both shows were wonderful, and both shows were brought to town by artists living outside of the city... way outside of the city.

What caught my attention about Meghan Kirk's show A SONG FOR YOU was the subtitle "Celebrating the Singer/Songwriter" - an art form for which I hold great respect. Also, I am always down for hearing anyone sing the Leon Russell classic, and I hoped Ms. Kirk's would be a rendition worth remembering. On the other side of the coin, it was impossible to not see Carolyn German's club act UNSOLICITED ADVICE ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, & PRACTICAL SHOES, a decision based, solely, on Ms. German's show art. Many artists head out into the fray with either no art (which is shameful) or bad art (which is worse). The craft of creating good show art is vitally important: Ms. German's show art completely compelled me to see her show.

So, Don't Tell Mama was my home-away-from-home yesterday, with happy and satisfying results. It was a sweet way to spend a Saturday.

Assuming the position at the center mic, in her rhinestones and sleek black evening gown, Meghan Kirk looked like she was about to give a recital, and that is exactly what she did. With very little movement around the stage, Ms. Kirk remained mostly dead center for her hour-long presentation, singing as sweetly as a bird, any bird that is known for having a beautiful voice. Meghan Kirk does have one of the loveliest instruments one is likely to find on a nightclub stage, and sublime contained acting skills that deliver unto the audience a joyful, playful, tuneful listening experience. What she did not have yesterday was a recital program: this was all pop and rock music from the Sixties and Seventies, being performed by a woman so cool and so fun that it was almost a shame she wasn't up on the stage wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt with sandals or, better still, barefoot. Meghan Kirk's dive into the music of singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Burt Bacharach felt so much like a sunny Saturday morning that I halfway expected the thirty-five-year-old version of my mother to walk in the room smoking a Salem Menthol, urging me to get up off the sofa and dance with her. Not a single step was misplaced, vocally, throughout Kirk's tribute to the craft of songwriting and to the memory of the singers - she is a delight, both vocally and personally. Many are the times that a tribute show can sound like a University lecture, but Meghan's personal touch with the trivia, factoids, and moments of history was told in such a casual and comfortable manner that one might think these were stories from her own life, being recounted from her own memories. This is one refreshing, entertaining, and enjoyable (to borrow a phrase from the Seventies) "Cool Chick" that would be easy to spend any amount of time watching perform - and the stories were wonderful, whether they were tales you already knew (like the origin story of "We've Only Just Begun") or anecdotes that sounded like an industry fable (like the creation of The Monkees as a "parody band" of The Beatles). I only wish that Ms. Kirk's musical director Ron McGowan had served her better - he seemed to be having an off-day, which happens to everyone, but there was an element of incongruity in the notes coming from the piano, as opposed to the notes Ms. Kirk was singing, which were all perfectly pitched. It was a minor blip in an afternoon of entertainment that was otherwise so beyond reproach that I would have welcomed one or two more songs, preferably by some female singer-songwriters like Carly Simon or Joni Mitchell. Next time...

Flash forward an hour or so and, what do you think, it's another show about singer-songwriters... that is to say, ONE singer-songwriter, for Carolyn German's show UNSOLICITED ADVICE... is a show comprised of her own musical compositions (except for one song by some fellow named Chaplin). This can be a very dangerous proposition because it can be difficult to be an audience member at a show where you are forced to listen to an hour's worth of songs you have never heard before. That's a lot of attention to be paid, a lot of new lyrics to listen for, a lot of following along... and when Carolyn German is on the stage and it is her songs, all that hard work is completely worth it. With showwomanship for days and an exciting vocal instrument, Carolyn German is easily one of the most entertaining storytellers you're likely to catch in concert. Her commitment to telling the story is equal to her commitment to connecting with the audience (though her eyes do tend to float a little above our heads more than that connection supports), and what stories she has to tell. With a flair for the humorous that informs most of her lyrics, Ms. German takes a few opportunities to surprise with something tender or torchy, both in her writing and her performing, which go hand in hand with great ease. Here is no songwriter who cannot also perform - this is a renaissance woman who is on the stage to give her all with songs whose melodies have as much follow-through as the lyrics highlight poetry. Whether leaning toward the theatrical or melting into the emotional, German's songs and performances display an unusual balance - there is absolutely no inequity between tune and lyric, or singing and songwriting. Carolyn German's is a complete talent, though the songwriter German needs to prepare herself because every singer should be contacting her with a request for one of her creations - she could and easily should be a name on lists that include Carol Hall and Christine Lavin. As a singing actress, Carolyn gave it everything she had, something she had the luxury of doing since her MD, the incomparable Ian Herman, had her back the entire time, relieving her of any worry about anything other than her storytelling.

Both Misses Kirk and German were generous enough to donate a portion of their spotlight to friends whose art they wished to share: for Meghan, the natural choice for guest artist was Annie Sauerburger, who kicked a little ass with a Carole King number. And Carolyn's chum Tereasa Payne used her flute to sweeten the sounds that filled the Don't Tell Mama Original Room. There is, however, one little problem that has left this writer with a rather large bone to pick with both Carolyn German and Meghan Kirk.

How could these two ladies do this to us? How could they come from St. Louis and Nashville, show off their glorious talents in two one-off performances, dangle the cabaret carrot in front of us, and then bounce back to the provinces, taking their light with them? It's a shame and rather frustrating, but one hopes (or at least this guy hopes) that both artists will make plans for return visits to our fair burg to brighten up our cabaret stages for longer than one afternoon; and all of you fine folks who didn't know that you should've been at Don't Tell Mama yesterday, stay on top it so that, next time, you will be. Seeing Misses Kirk and German in action is worth the trouble of setting a Google alert.

Meghan Kirk A SONG FOR YOU, CELEBRATING THE SINGER/SONGWRITER and Carolyn German UNSOLICITED ADVICE ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, & PRACTICAL SHOES have completed their one-off runs at Don't Tell Mama.

Find other great shows at Don't Tell Mama HERE

Find Carolyn German online HERE and find Meghan Kirk online HERE

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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