Three Girls & Their Buddy...

...walk into the Ferguson Center at CNU, which isn't particularly notable except that the girls were Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin and their buddy was Buddy Miller. And so began an evening of mostly self-proclaimed sad songs and some of the most beautiful voices that could possibly harmonize.

The performance began with Harris singing and then allowed each of them to shine in turn. Miller accompanied each while also doing his time in the spotlight and all four made a point to talk to the audience in between songs. Colvin talked about what a tough time she had with post-partum blues after giving birth, Griffin told a joke charmingly and then flubbed the punchline, Miller downplayed his ability to sing his own song and Harris gave us a rant about "lunch lady arms," which are no longer acceptable for women over 40 (she mentioned it because of playing the shaker and only giving one arm a workout).

And as if the voices weren't more than enough to sustain the audience's rapt attention, it was a pleasure to watch such stylistically different guitar players as these four. Thank you, Holmes, for inviting me to join you on a road trip.