Music & Concerts
CONCERT REVIEW: The daffy brilliance of Sophie B. Hawkins
Icon performs at Tally Ho Theater
Washington-area fans got an uber-rare chance to hear queer icon Sophie B. Hawkins, mostly known for her ’90s monster hits “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” and “As I Lay Me Down,” live last Friday night when she performed a 90-minute solo set at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Va. It was her first performance in the region since a mini-set in 2017 and her first full-length concert here in more than a decade.
There was no band or accompaniment tracks; Hawkins, 57, provided all her own instrumentation, mostly on piano and guitar. Pleasantly, since she hasn’t had an album out since 2012, she performed five self-penned unreleased songs and one delightfully unexpected cover — Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust” — that furnished perhaps the evening’s most poignant moments. Sitting atop a stool with her feet propped on a drum and picking gently at an acoustic guitar, Hawkins kept listeners rapt with Baez’s 1975 story song.
Appearing almost four years to the day since her last D.C.-area appearance, Hawkins was in fine form. I wrote last time that her vocals sounded a bit ragged, as though she were not properly warmed up. Thankfully this time, that was not an issue. There were several full-throttled wails throughout the evening demonstrating both Hawkins’ impressive lung capacity and the slight scratch in her voice that keeps it just shy of crystalline.
She toyed a bit with her various singles and album cuts. Opener “Right Beside You,” a single from her second album “Whaler” (1994), was slowed significantly to solid effect; while “No Connection,” “California Here I Come” and “Walk on Fire” were given more faithful readings. She indulged a request for daffy “Swing From Limb to Limb” with an impromptu, a cappella rendition.
She was also more candid than ever about “Lose Your Way,” the controversial track from her last major label effort “Timbre” (1999) that found her drawing a line in the sand with label execs and insisting on banjo accompaniment. Introducing it as “the song that ruined my career,” Hawkins offered a lovely and understated performance — on banjo, of course. She also teased a 2022 deluxe reissue of her debut album “Tongues and Tales” for its 30th anniversary. A tour is rumored as well.
Of the five new songs, three were also featured in her 2017 set at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Va. She introduced the other two variously as a song from a musical she’s writing she called “Birds of New York,” possibly titled “I Want to Be Myself With You”; she said she wrote “You Are My Balloon” when her daughter was an infant. It was requested by a hardcore fan who drove down from Ontario for the concert. I didn’t catch his name, but he said he’d seen her many times in concert over the years and this particular night she was “truly on fire.”
All the new material sounded solid. Despite the bare-bones accompaniment, it was apparent Hawkins’ songwriting prowess has not diminished. The last time Hawkins spoke to the Blade, in 2017, she spoke of having an album in the can. It remains unreleased.
It’s hard to tell to what degree Hawkins’ often batshit crazy stage banter is her true personality or not. She says just about whatever seems to pop in her head; tells snippets of stories, the pertinence of which is not always apparent; remains unperturbed when she fumbles a piano line, etc. It has echoes of Cyndi Lauper’s stage schtick, though thankfully Hawkins spent most of her time focused on the music (Lauper sometimes rambles interminably). She cut off a second performance of “Damn” (once on piano, once on guitar) abruptly saying, “OK, that’s enough of that song.” She introduced her trademark Dylan cover “I Want You” as the encore and told the crowd to just pretend she’d left the stage and come back.
Though Hawkins has never used the “L” word, most of her public relationships have been with women and her love songs are rife with female pronouns. She has a strong lesbian fan base and there were many female couples in the crowd. I don’t know how many the Tally holds — it’s smaller than the Birchmere, but not tiny — but it appeared to be about three-quarters full.
A slightly longer set, considering we see her so infrequently in our area, would have been welcomed but that’s a quibble. Hawkins seemed in exceedingly good spirits throughout the evening; she laughed easily, often at herself, and thanked the crowd repeatedly for coming. Despite COVID, she signed autographs and posed for photos after the show. Up close and in person with no special lighting, Hawkins looks like she’s in her 30s.
Hawkins, who had a strong ‘90s run, is one of the great hitmakers of that era whose catalogue, while limited, holds up astoundingly well. She’s a sonic cousin to Tori Amos, the Indigo Girls, Joan Osborne and the like. All are still touring, writing and recording and have solid fan bases but have long been written off by mainstream pop radio and undeservedly so.
Hawkins, who got an especially raw deal from industry gatekeepers after “Timbre,” deserved way more industry recognition than she ever got. Here’s to hoping the “Tongues” re-release A. happens (Hawkins spoke of it as a sure thing) and B. reminds the industry what a talent they snuffed out when they put her out to pasture. I suppose show biz is full of similar stories, but hearing Hawkins live last weekend was a reminder of how much she has been missed and how much the world could benefit from the perspectives of queer women in music.
SET LIST:
1. Right Beside You
2. California Here I Come
3. Walk on Fire
4. As I Lay Me Down
5. I’ve Only Hungered for Love Before*
6. I Can’t Replace You
7. Better Off Without You
• drum solo
8. Lose Your Way
9. No Connection
10. Swing From Limb to Limb
11. I Want to Be Myself With You*
12. Diamonds and Rust
13. You Are My Balloon
14. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (piano)
15. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (guitar)
16. I Want You
* title unsure
8:02-9:29 p.m.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1
I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.
Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”
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