Shovels and Rope- The Castle Theatre

On September 29th, folk duo Shovels and Rope visited The Castle Theatre. As I had only heard a couple of songs of theirs before the show, I was very excited to see them live, as I already loved their sound. To open the show, Al Olender started, and she immediately blew me away. She reminded me a lot of Stevie Nicks, as she had that 70s look and that light folk sound, which I loved. Though much of her music is slow, her personality is the opposite. She brought great humor to her sadder music, which I loved. After leaving the theater, I immediately added her music to my playlist and listened to her non-stop. Shovels and Rope came out just shortly after, and though their stage setup was simple, it was so cool. Their backdrop was a black screen, with lights that looked like ropes hanging down the backdrop. They had a keyboard on the left side, a mic in the middle, and a drum kit on the right. Before seeing them, I did not know it was just them two in the band, as I assumed others would join them on stage to play other instruments, but it was just them two switching off from guitar and drums, which I thought was so cool and unique. I was immediately blown away by both of their abilities to be versatile on both instruments, as well as sing while they drummed, as I’ve always found that challenging. My favorite song they played was “Love Song From a Dog”, which is a song they have with Gregory Alan Isokov, one of my favorite folk artists. This song tells the story of a dog’s love for his owners, with lines like “When I met you, it was just like being born”. Another song I loved by them was “Mississippi Nuthin” as it had that more upbeat folk sound I love. After seeing Shovels and Rope, I will need to see them again, as I loved their overall sound and their stage presence. It is not often you see a band switch instruments after every other song, and I fell in love with them and their music.