Loretta Lynn concert 11/15/15

I went to see Loretta Lynn perform 11/15/15 -- so not everything on this blog is about Josh Groban

I never really was a country music fan, though I’ve started to like “Home Free,” but I did see the movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” so when I saw she was coming to my local music hall I figured I’d better find out what she was about.

I ended up being late to the concert, because I had another thing to do before, but I only missed the opening act, which was a relief.

They really had 2 opening acts.  They had her son sing for a while with her band as well, and then her daughter, before they brought her on, and even when she was on stage, they spelled her by interspersing singing by others — and she sang abbreviated versions of some of the songs. She was visibly out of breath after singing & sat most of the time when singing.  They had someone walk her on and off stage.

Still, for a woman in her 80’s she did very well.  Her voice was clear and strong.  Also there was something about her timing.  I think that’s one of the characteristics that distinguish great musicians — very precise timing, so that they’re not just performing, they seem to be part of the music, like the music is including them rather than being forced out of them.

It was interesting comparing the singing styles between her, her daughter, and her grand daughter.  She had a much clearer sound, while the granddaughter was breathier — and the daughter was singing lower.  That’s an odd trend, recently, it seems like we want men to sing high and women to sing low — like a generation of people who aren’t satisfied with natural sounding voices.  Of the three, I thought Loretta was the best.

She’s apparently been touring all year, despite apparently being somewhat weak.  That’s pretty amazing — IMHO.

I've never thought of these women country singers, with their heavily styled hair and sparkles, as feminists, but I'm realizing, watching this video that they were.  

Still, though, when I saw Loretta Lynn play, the entire band was male.  That seems to be typical: a female singer with a male backup band.  I've talked about this on this blog before.  Celtic "Women"