When Lonesome Highway interviewed Kassi Valazza in 2023, prior to her first shows in Ireland, she spoke of her devotion to the music of her fellow Portland, Oregon, resident and legendary folk artist Michael Hurley and how his shows at The Laurelthirst Pub in that city had influenced her career. Now in his early eighties, Hurley was a strong influence in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene. Valazza opens tonight's show with a Hurley song, Wildageesses, the closing track on her 2023 album ironically titled KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING.Recalling how she had asked her booking agent to schedule a joint tour with Hurley, the reply was, 'What will he draw'? That, she tells us, is the music industry today.
That recent album, released in Europe by Loose Music in 2023, quickly created a solid fan base for her in Ireland, evidenced by two sold-out shows at the Kilkenny Roots Festival that year. Joined on stage on those occasions by a keys player and a pedal steel player, the songs from that album were presented in a somewhat cosmic and psychedelic folk-styled manner.
Unlike those shows, tonight is a solo performance by Valazza. The songs, most of which are drawn from KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING, sound enthralling in their stripped-down presentations. Despite an admission of anxiety and nervousness playing live ('I love writing songs, I just don't enjoy playing them live'), Valazza is in fine and engaging form. Her vocals, with nods to Laurel Canyon on occasions but also evoking traditional mid-60s folk styling, are impeccable, as is her skilled guitar work.
She explains that Rapture was inspired by her first childhood best friend, who had an unfortunate and alarming attraction to fire starting. This led to an attempt to set fire to paper in Valazza's family home on one occasion. In response to Valazza's nervous protest, the reply was, 'You don't know how fire works,' inspiring the song's lyrics: 'You don't know how fire works, it dies until you feed it.'
High points in her relaxed set are many. Early Morning Rising, fuelled by ingesting mushrooms and written on a walk around town during Covid, and Johnny Dear, featured on her 2019 record DEAR DEAD DAYS, and, we are told, was written for her grandmother, are particularly memorable. Also included is a terrific version of Neil Young's One Of These Days.
A new song, Weight of the Wheel, included in her next album, which has already been recorded in Portland, Oregon, with her band, closes the set before she returns for an encore with Chino, written fondly about her hometown. The pin-drop silence from a packed room during each song is testament to an artist gifted with a crystal-clear voice, sublime guitar skills, and an intriguing treasure chest of songs. Simply magical.
New Orleans singer-songwriter Chris Acker took the impressive opening slot. His forty-minute set featured clever and witty songs inspired by atypical neighbours, an unappreciated proposition by a fellow male, and the bizarre but true story face of Jesus on a toasted cheese sandwich. Acker will be releasing his next album, FAMOUS LUNCH, shortly, and I will most certainly be seeking it out.
Review and photography by Declan Culliton