Review of Central Ohio Folk Festival Concert

This sweet review was written by our dear friend and colleague, Michael Hough. As a fellow Yellow Room Gang member and wonderful singer/songwriter/musician we respect his opinion very much. Unsolicited and surprising, here is his review.

Review of Annie and Rod Capps with Jason Dennie

by Michael Hough

2011′s Central Ohio Folk Festival headliners, Annie & Rod Capps with Jason Dennie put on a mainstage set on Saturday evening, May 7 2011 that must be described as RIVETING! Annie led the trio with rock solid rhythm guitar and fingerpicking, singing mostly original tunes, with several quite remarkable exceptions pulled from the Folk Tradition. She was in fine voice, completely in command of her performance and her band and showed plenty of versatility in appealing to both sexes in the audience. An example of this is “The Sheriff’s Daughter,” a murder ballad where the girl is NOT the victim. And also perhaps “The Ring,” a song about a waitress who finds a diamond among the night’s debris when sweeping up at closing time. Annie’s stage presence with these was disarming and strong at the same time.

Rod Capps and Jason Dennie showed themselves to be the perfect Castles for Annie’s Queen, with dynamic and exciting solos and ornamentation which fit well with the feel and the flow of her songs. Rod played both acoustic and electric guitars with flair and grace, and the good blend of his Telecaster and Annie’s Gibson acoustic was fine to hear. Best may have been the interplay between Rod and Jason… (guitar & mandolin). Sometimes Annie would just step back from the mic as if to give them room, and they played off each other in line after line of fascinating and innovative harmony. When they all sang together in three parts, we heard 21st century folk music developing before our eyes and ears.

Just when we thought we had them pegged, Annie pulled out an antique Banjo which once belonged to Rod’s relatives in the Columbus area. And then they brought down the house with an exciting version of “Whiskey Before Breakfast:” Annie holding the arrangement together on her Gibson while Rod and Jason took the traditional fiddle tune into surprising and even Jazzy places. It was FUN. Jason performed “In My Arms,” one of his own songs, just to let us know he’s much more than a sideman. He teaches both Guitar and Mandolin at Herb David’s Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor Michigan.

Favorite songs of the night (in addition to those mentioned above) were:
“Honey Sugar Baby Mine” (Annie’s fishing song) and certainly her version of the Dave Carter classic “Crocodile Man.” The combination of Annie and Rod shows how effective a duo can be… where the two bring out the shine in each other. And then when you add Jason and all that he offers, the bar rises a few pegs more. Congratulations to the Central Ohio Folk Festival for bringing these fine players to Columbus.

Respectfully submitted, May 9, 2011