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Unrehearsed Lovett & Co. come across as naturals

By MARTY CLEAR
Published November 4, 2005

CLEARWATER - It was kind of like sitting around your living room with a few friends, if your friends happened to be some of the most talented songwriters in the country.

Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely and Guy Clark sat on the stage at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Thursday night, with no set, no light show, no special effects. It was just four guys and four acoustic guitars, and for two hours they thrilled and charmed their audience.

Lovett may have been the most well-known of the four performers, but right from the start it was clear that there was no "star" of this show. They walked on stage together, and sat in a row of chairs. Clark was on the audience's right, Ely just to his left, then Hiatt, then Lovett.

They took turns singing songs. There was no set list - Clark mentioned that up front, and it was evident from the looseness of the show - so each man sang whatever song popped into his head. The others sat under dimmed lights, their guitars across their laps, sharing the experience with the audience.

Every once in a while, someone would lend a harmony line or a guitar solo to someone else's song. It was obviously unrehearsed. Beats got turned around and some songs came to an almost total standstill while one musician caught up with the other. But those little glitches just served to enhance the intimacy and informality of the show.

None of the four singers seemed to be especially interested in playing their hits, though some of their best-known songs did eke into the mix. Clark performed L.A. Freeway, (like many of his songs, a bigger hit for another artist, in this case Jerry Jeff Walker, than for himself) about halfway through. Lovett didn't play If I Had a Boat until the very last song of the show.

The grouping of the four singer-songwriters was inspired. They all have styles that touch on country, rock and folk music, so their music meshes together beautifully. Since the format gave them the freedom to play whatever song popped into their head, the segues from one artist to another were sometimes chilling.

If there was drawback to the format, it was that audience members who came to see one particular artist didn't get to hear more than a few of his songs. But no one seemed to mind. The audience was treated to four stirring performances all at the same time.

[Last modified November 4, 2005, 01:47:13]