Here’s how I judge a CD. I put it in the player while on an all-day drive, and if I just keep listening to it long after the entire disc has played through, it’s a good one. Annie’s CD is so fun and easy to listen to that we just had to ask her to come down from Ann Arbor, MI to Evansville to perform for you at the cabin. I love the way her lyrics make you realize that she’s just an average person who’s not afraid to state the truth about what she’s thinking in the context of a good lyric. She performs with her multi-instrumentalist husband Rod, who shares my love for funky old instruments.
I’m not sure how we started, but somehow Annie, Rod and I started busting each other’s chops from the moment they were introduced to the audience–we had an immediate comfort and friendship. During their encore, Rod asked the audience if they wanted to hear banjo or mandolin (Rod’s a multi-instrumentalist) and someone said “both”, and suggested I join in. I’m reluctant to do that, because these shows are more about presenting than performing for me, but I really enjoyed picking up Rod’s dobro mandolin and sharing a solo with them.