Sorrow & Smoke - Live At The Horseshoe Lounge

iTunes Review

Maine-to-Texas singer/songwriter Slaid Cleaves’s first live album, Sorrow & Smoke, is a welcome gift from an acclaimed performer who writes some of the best sad-eyed barroom tunes not credited to Townes Van Zandt. The performances are taken from two nights in 2010 (April 20 and June 29), while the songs are brought together simply, cleanly, and with great emotional intensity. The audiences are spirited and give you an idea of what it’s like to be at Austin’s Horseshoe Lounge when Cleaves is holding court. South Texas guitarist Michael O’Connor and accordionist/trumpeter/harmonica player Oliver Steck join the forlorn fun. From the opening tune, “Hard to Believe,” Cleaves is in prime voice. The ache as he twists a phrase is genuine. “Drinkin’ Days” looks back at the past with a bittersweet self-deprecating admission. “Cry” observes a desperate world where “there’s no poison like a dream when it all comes undone.” These are songs of great empathy, as “One Great Year” makes heartbreakingly clear.