Josh Rouse w/ Maria Taylor @ Lee's Palace

I haven't yet posted any words about Josh Rouse's latest release "Country Mouse, City House" so I should probably start by sharing a few words on that. Overall, it's a decent album albeit rather predictable. Here we have Josh once again settling into 70's AM radio vibe, which I felt worked triumphantly on 2003's "1972" album, but turns only slightly stale on this release. This isn't because the songs are bad by any means; it's just that they all sort of sound the same after awhile.

The same was relatively true about his appearance at Lee's Palace on Tuesday night. He obviously possesses a certain charm and charisma that immediately wins over a crowd (not that they needed any help.) However, at almost 90 minutes in length, I have to admit I was feeling somewhat restless at the 35 minute mark. (OK, I wasn't timing things, but we're talking in approximations here.) He obviously showcased many songs from the new one, but he also featured a happy helping of tunes from "Nashville," possibly my favorite Rouse release, although it alternates frequently with "1972," which he also played a few cuts from. He started out strong enough with "Saturday" which is an excellent show opener before settling into new material like "Pilgrim" and "God, Please Let Me Go Back." There were some humorous moments like when he distracted the audience from his guitar tuning by having the band play Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," which resulted in only a mildly successful but ultimately enjoyable audience sing along. The encore consisted of 4 songs, including a cover of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay," the infectious "Slaveship" and the beautiful "Sad Eyes." I read another review that described the new album as "for the relaxed" and that's as appropriate a description as one could give of his performance...very relaxed. Which is cool with me.

Photos: Josh Rouse @ Lee's Palace flickr (Incredibly grainy and noisy but what're you gonna do?)
Myspace: Josh Rouse
Video: Hollywood Bass Player youtube

Maria Taylor (formerly from Azure Ray) opened the night off in an equally relaxed way. She informed us that the van broke down so most of her band had to remain stateside. But she still had the accompaniment of Andy Lemaster (of Now It's Overhead, etc) on guitar, which allowed for her to showcase her velvety hushed voice for the crowd. I'm only mildly acquainted with her solo work, so her performance was also sort of an introduction to me, but I thought the songs were exceptionally strong. They settled nicely into that alt-country vibe, and she came across as a true professional who seemed genuinely happy to be performing for us. Andy Lemaster also did an excellent job of accompaniment; harmonizing, playing along, blowing a kazoo and telling jokes while Maria tuned up. (Why do penguins walk slowly? Because they can't walk hardly. Arf arf!)

Photos: Maria Taylor @ Lee's Palace flickr (Also grainy and noisy. Time for a new camera...)
Download: Song Beneath The Song mp3 / Speak Easy mp3
Myspace: Maria Taylor (more free downloads there.)