Americana Music Fest 2021
City Winery, Thursday (Sept. 23)
By Wil Comstock
MCAU Contributing Writer
NASHVILLE -- I love harmony, so I was excited to see Pete Muller and the Kindred Souls, who all sing. With Muller on Keyboards and lead vocals, Missy Soltero on percussion and lead vocals, Martha McDonald on violin, and John Wooley on guitar, we hear a throwback to the California sound of the '60s. Lots of energy and harmony exude from this band.
The numbers that grabbed me were “Just Trying to Find My Way” and “This Ain’t Me.” The former is about trying to get through the craziness of today’s world. Muller said there used to be three major news networks, and they all pretty much said the same thing. Today we have cable and a ton of networks and they are all saying something different!
In researching the band, I learned that Pete is a hedge fund manager and quantitative trader with Morgan Stanley. He also graduated with honors from Princeton in math!
There was a buzz going around about Raye Zaragoza, so I ran upstairs to the lounge to catch her set. I am so glad I did! Zaragoza’s mother came to America as an adopted immigrant from Japan at 3 years old. Her father grew up in California and is of Mexican and Native American descent. Raye grew up in New York City in studio apartment.
Without an introduction, she walked onto the stage with her guitar and opened with “I’m a Rebel Soul.” She explained her last album was about identities, so she knew she had to write a song about her mother, and came up with “Change Your Name.” Raye’s grandmother told her mother this before her mother left Japan. Before she went on her first big tour, she was nervous. She took that nervous energy and turned it into “Warrior," singing “I don’t want to be nervous anymore, I’m a warrior."
Zaragoza talked about what it was like to grow up as a brown-skinned girl who looked different from the girls in the magazines, TV and movies. From this she segued into “American Dream.” I read that Raye’s influences were Carol King, Joni Mitchel, Joan Baez, and Buffy Saint Marie. She embodies all of them with kindness, poise and grace.
It was time to go downstairs to hear Kiefer Sutherland, a name familiar to us all. This was my first time hearing Sutherland sing. He has a pleasing Dylan-type of voice without the rough edges. He accompanied himself on guitar and brought along a pedal steel player and a guitarist who also did background vocals. Both fine musicians.
Kiefer opened with the fun “Tonight’s Rodeo,” followed by “Can’t Stay Away." He spoke of being in the studio recording the latter. His friends were chiding and asking what girl was the song about. Sutherland didn’t answer. His friends disappeared, and he was in the control room with his 13-year-old daughter. She gave him a funny look and told him she knew what it was about. He said, “Okay, what’s it about?” She answered, “That stupid bar across the street." Sutherland said none of his friends could figure that out, but here my daughter did!
Kiefer discovered Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash as an adult. He said Cash gave prisoners dignity by writing about prison, adding, “The first thing they take away from you in prison is your dignity. I’ve never been to prison, but I’ve been to jail a few times so I ought to know!” “Shirley Jean” is Sutherland’s homage to Cash about a man in prison.
He closed the set with a number about one of his tours, saying, “It rained every single day, so I wrote a song about it called 'Chasing the Rain.' I checked the Weather app to make sure it was still clear outside!"
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