In 1997, amidst a very big breakup in my life, some friends took me to The Lilith Fair on it’s Colorado stop. Personally, I was a mess, but one thing I did know was I wanted to sing and write.
And the sight of Fiona Apple— who was peaking at the time— and her band rocking hard and Paula Cole’s impressive pipes left a big impression on me.
Flash forward 13 years, and Lilith Fair announces a renewed national tour.
At first, like half the songwriters I know, I vied for a Local Talent Search spot on the San Francisco leg of the trip. I (obviously) didn’t get a stage spot this go, but I did attend the show at Shoreline on Monday night, more to show my support for women in music than because I was particularly enthused about the line-up. While the bill featured top acts that covered the spectrum of women in music throughout my lifetime, there was no one I was super excited to see.
But Lilith surprised me, the sum of its parts providing another touchstone of influence, community, showing both how far women have come in music, and perhaps how far they have left to go… and inspiring me anew.
With A Fine Frenzy and Colbie Caillet holding up the present, Kitten, perhaps, holding up the pop future (I can’t say I’d endorse that as her rolling around the stage prompted me and a friend to exit the scene quickly),the impeccably tasteful Sara McLachlan acting as bridge between the country caricature that was Miranda Lambert (singing of beer runs and using guns, complete with a rifle motif microphone–can we say ugh?—her band rocked but she ultimately turned us off), the bubblegum fun of The Bangles (Who looked and sounded great, switching off vocal duties and running smooth show. I have renewed respect for the craft of “Walk Like an Egyptian”), and the rock eminence of Heart.
I was a child when Heart was selling millions of albums and I hadn’t realized before, until watching Anne and Nancy Wilson play on Monday, how much their music had infiltrated my consciousness or quite what pioneers they were.
The two sisters have written a huge number of hit songs, a few of which they played Monday. Not only was I surprised to know the words, I was also completely wowed by their playing and singing. I knew these two were great musicians, but they really took everyone, on the bill and in the audience, to school.
Mashing up their own ‘Even it Up’ with The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter, covering Led Zeppelin’s What is and What Should Never Be so well that no one missed Robert Plant, and debuting a new song from an upcoming release, they had most everyone out of their seats. Talk about aging and creating well.
Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.
Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.
Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.
