Linda McRae Plays Sportsmen's Tavern May 31

           
            Linda McRae will return to Western New York for another fine performance with her Buffalo band, the Ragged Hearts, at 9 p.m. Friday, May 31, at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst Street near Grant Street in Buffalo.

            McRae, first well-known for her time as bassist and vocalist with Spirit of the West, has become a seriously talent roots/Americana singer, songwriter and banjo player, and will feature songs from her most recent and fabulous CD, “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts.” The Rugged Hearts are made up of Jim Whitford on standup bass and backing vocals, Mark Panfil on Dobro, accordion, harmonica and backing vocals; Doug Yeomans on guitar and backing vocals, and Randy Bolam on drums and backing vocals.

            McRae’s show is part of the Sportsmen’s Tavern’s Concert Series, and she calls the Sportsmen one of her “all-time favorite venues in the world.

            The CD, on 42 RPM, takes McRae’s rootsy sounds, from country, bluegrass, old-timey and rock, and blends them in the natural development of a talented musician catching her stride and taking her music to the next level. McRae, always an honest storyteller with little use for fantasy, has a thematic event she pulls from, her love and marriage to her husband, writer and poet James K. Whitmire. She sings of the ups, downs, laughter, sadness, confusion, hopes, dreams, nightmares, dread and simple everyday events that love and partnerships with people bring. She and Whitmire wrote several songs together on “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts.”

            Several songs and passages on the new CD are powerful standouts, including “Higher Ground,” describes an alcoholic who knows he is dying talking to possibly the only person left who will listen to him, telling of his search for little more than a quiet, dignified place to die. “Hope It Lasts Through Supper,” mainly McRae’s voice and banjo, expresses the fun of two people actually liking each other’s company and being amazed something may come from it. The title song explains that people who’ve been through the romantic battles still feel love and need compassion, regardless the scars. “Deck of 52”features some mournful fiddle from Marc L’Esperance and nicely picked guitar from Stephen Nikleva as McRae sings of a lonely traveling Texas singer (dedicated to the late Townes Van Zandt).

 

            “Three Midnights,” a dark but eventually hopeful song co-written by McRae and Whitmire about “addiction, recovery and hope,” features the amazingly poignant couplet “I just bought a house with no windows/and it’s darker than three midnights in a jar.” (Whitmire has celebrated 25 years of sobriety.) The CD closes on a wonderful note,  “Be Your Own Light,” a somewhat rocking country gospel number on which McRae implores people to not be victims but to make their own joy and share it with others. The intro is twisted enough that you could hear Tom Waits joining in on it.

            42 RPM can be contacted at 3329 Lodmell Road, Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada V9C 3C1, or email at 42management@gmail.com, but you really should come to the show Friday and buy it from McRae and Whitmire in person.