Texas-style folk music made a stop at Caffe Lena on Thursday, June 22, with the swing revival sounds of The Quebe Sisters. The Dallas group played to a sold out crowd this evening, emanating progressive western swing with jazz and blues influences peppered throughout, as well as a healthy dose of comedy and the history behind the music.
These sisters first appeared on my radar thanks to Col. Bruce Hampton, a legend among jam band fans, who had a keen eye for identifying and fostering talent throughout his career. Only mentioned in passing in a 2016 interview, the sisters shared with NYS Music that their connection to Col. Bruce was thanks to his fellow Aquarium Rescue Unit member (and current Widespread Panic guitarist), Jimmy Herring. It was he who saw them perform at a local fair in Georgia, met them following the show (all parties were humbled), and Herring later put the band on Col. Bruce’s radar. From Hampton’s lips to my ears, Caffe Lena was the perfect venue this evening.
As the performance began promptly at 7pm, standing on stage left to right were sisters Hulda, Grace and Sophia, who have each been playing fiddle for more than two decades. Joining them were Simon Stipp on guitar and Daniel Parr on bass, and at times, Grace would play snare drum ever so lightly, stirring with a brush in one hand, and a light tap of the stick with the other. An evening of old-timey folk music, with some songs more than a century old, began with “Avalon” by Al Jolson. If T. Bone Burnett were tasked to produce a soundtrack in the style of O Brother, Where Are Thou?, the sounds of the Quebe Sisters would be a centerpiece of the album.
With folk songs of trails, cowboys and traveling, tunes of pioneers were played, a history lesson in the form of stories handed down as song. A dive into 19th century poetry yielded “My Love, My Life, My Friend, influenced by the Emily Dickinson poem “That it will never come again.” A duet of “Lullaby of Birdland” was followed by The Mills Brothers’ arrangement of a 1942 song, “Cow Cow Boogie” and the medley “Speed the Plow” which closed a set that had the style of music you’d expect to hear in a Quentin Tarantino film.
The all fiddle family returned for a second set with “Lonesome Road” and the wonderful “Shame on You,” which hit all the right spots, reminiscent of Patsy Montana’s “I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”
Set to the tune “Home on the Range,” the prescient and eerily humorous “Drone on the Range” sang of the perils of technology and the neighbors who misuse it. The Bob Wales instrumental “Roly Poly” would follow, along with Ray Charles’ “Georgia on my Mind” and the instrumental “Load in at 7 (leave at 8) likewise was a tongue in cheek take on life on the road.
“Lullaby of Leaves” saw the three sisters fiddling together, before diving into the extensive catalog of fellow Texan Willie Nelson on “Summer of Roses, follows by a unique as ever “Merch Jingle” to encourage fans to meet and greet them after the show and pick up merchandise before heading out. “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” would close the set, and the original familial song “Texas” served as the lone encore.
The Quebe Sisters have one of the most unique harmonies and a sound that bridges generations of country and western music, influenced by time and the fiddle prowess of a trio of 20 years strong, just getting started.
The Quebe Sisters – Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs – June 22, 2023
Set 1: Avalon, Please Don’t Talk > Going Away Party, Teardrops, Pierce the Blue > Twin Guitar, Timber Trail > Trouble in Mind, My Love, My Life, My Friend, Lullaby of Birdland, Cow Cow Boogie, Twilight > Speed the Plow
Set 2: Lonesome Road > Shame on You, Distraction, Drone on the Range, Roly Poly, Georgia on my Mind, Load in at 7 (Leave at 8), Day People, Lullaby of the Leaves, Swingin’ the Bow, intros > Summer of Roses, Merch Jingle > It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie
Encore: Texas
photos by Derek Java
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