Kitty Donohoe (with David Mosher) and Doug Berch at the Ten Pound Fiddle on 10/3/08:

One of my favorite things about living where I do is my proximity to the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse, a concert series that takes place from September to May every year.  Last year concerts were held on Saturdays, but this year they have been moved back to the Fridays on which they had previously been held, a change that works very well for me.  I hope to attend several concerts this season, and I attended my first one of the season last Friday, 10/3, when Kitty Donohoe and Doug Berch shared a double bill.

As it happened, this particular weekend was Homecoming for both MSU and East Lansing High School, so two Homecoming parades were held on Friday evening.  With the church where the concert was to be held in close proximity to both MSU and ELHS, travel and parking were made interesting for a lot of folks.  I had been aware of the MSU parade and parade route and had intentionally planned a way to get to the church around it.  What I didn’t know at the time was that East Lansing’s Homecoming was also taking place and that my alternate route to the church would unintentionally take me right past the high school.  I spent more time stuck in traffic than I might have liked as a result, but still managed to arrive at the church in plenty of time.  Things started late, as it turned out, and I suspect many others, possibly including both the volunteers running the concert and the performers, were also delayed by traffic and closed streets. 

This concert was a CD release celebration for both Doug and Kitty, Doug having just finished two dulcimer CDs (one of mountain dulcimer tunes and one of hammered dulcimer tunes) and Kitty having recently completed Northern Border.  Doug played the first set and did multiple songs on both the hammered and mountain dulcimer.  He is a phenomenal dulcimer player and has a delightful sense of humor, making him a true joy to see perform live.  I enjoy both types of dulcimer tunes, but find myself particularly fond of the hammered dulcimer, so those tunes were my favorites of the ones he played.  In particular, he played one called Ocean Of Wisdom, written many years ago in the Los Angles area, which I found really beautiful.  I hope he does more performances in this area with two new CDs to promote, as I would definitely enjoy the opportunity to see him play again.

Because things were running behind and the concert was already going to start later than scheduled, Kitty and David (who accompanied her on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and harmony vocals  throughout) did the sound check for their set during the intermission between sets.  I would think it had to be difficult trying to get the sound correctly set up and balanced with everyone milling around the room and visiting, but if they had any issues, their performance didn’t reflect them.  Even during their first couple of songs when I think some sound kinks were still being worked out and were noticeable from the audience, their performance was right on.  Kitty and David performed 8 of the 10 tracks on Northern Border, a couple of old favorites from previous albums (including the wonderfully appropriate Autumn Dance), and a new song I think was called Ready For A Change.

I've seen Kitty and David perform together several times before and enjoyed them all, but there were certain things that made this performance special.  For one, Kitty has a core group of very loyal fans who live in this area and always turn out for area shows, so I got to see and visit with several wonderful people in addition to hearing the great music.  Plus, the crowd clearly enjoyed the performance, listening attentively and applauding enthusiastically.  For another, I had heard all of the songs on Northern Border live in the past except one -- the beautifully haunting There Are No Words -- and she chose to perform this song on this night in the wake of her performance of it at the 9/11 Memorial Dedication Ceremony at The Pentagon about three weeks prior.  Kitty also gave the song a very poignant introduction, talking a lot about what the experience at The Pentagon had been like for her.  Some of this I’d read in updates posted to her website
 since her return, but reading often doesn’t compare to hearing a live account of something, particularly from a natural songwriter and storyteller like Kitty.  Thus, to hear her account of that once in a lifetime experience and get to hear the song live was a special treat.

Doug also played a handful of tunes with Kitty and David, and that was quite enjoyable as well, as I’m always amazed by how easily artists who don’t perform together regularly seem to pick up each others tunes and run with them.  They played a traditional fiddle tune with David on fiddle, Kitty on guitar, and Doug on hammered dulcimer, and Doug played whistle (which I love and rarely get to hear him play) on When I Was The Queen and Shady Grove.  Between the company and the music, it was an extremely enjoyable night that kept me smiling throughout the rest of the weekend.

My best to all!