This edition of the Austin City Limits' Live from Austin, TX was recorded during the tour for
Hard Times in Babylon; to date, one of the finest moments in
Eliza Gilkyson's recording career -- the other is 2005's
Paradise Hotel. Featuring a crack Austin band that includes bassist
Glenn Fukunaga, guitarists Mike Hardwick, and
Nina Gerber, drummer Cisco Ryder, and
Rich Brotherton on mandolin, she could hardly miss. But even though the anthemic "Welcome Back" is enough to bring the crowd into her universe, it's brave to feature the title cut from that celebrated album next. It's sad, dark, full of a late night lonesome that is tough to chart though she does it so beautifully it's almost not believable. What makes it work is the sheer, limpid, unadorned manner in which
Gilkyson presents her songs. She can really sing, but her voice doesn't need to carry drama and tension because her songs, so tautly and expertly crafted, naturally bring it right out of her, making her a fine singer as well as a writer. There is a band here, but all you can really take in is her bringing those words to you with quirky but earthy melodies. She makes it a hat trick with "Beauty Way," written for her father, the famed songwriter
Terry Gilkyson. These three songs in a row are worth the price of admission all by themselves. It's almost too much to take in. But there's so much more, and if anything, she moves with rough-hewn grace through the loping autobiography of her own song titled "Easy Rider," the bluesy "Mama's Got a Boyfriend," the tender, sexy "Fall into the Night," and the nearly holy "Sanctuary." It's a chilling, arresting performance that ranks not only among the greatest in her career, but among the very best in the now voluminous Live from Austin, TX series. She caps it, if indeed it can be capped with anything, with a completely righteous cover of
Bob Dylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit." If you are fan, you can't live without it; if you follow the singer/songwriter scene, you need it; if you are new to
Gilkyson. prepare to be blown away. [A DVD version was also released.] ~ Thom Jurek