Buck Meek at the Cedar Cultural Center (05-25-2024)

Here is a fun fact I learned when researching this show. Both the opening and headline acts are supporting their latest albums, which happen to share the same name as well as the same song to said album.

Jolie Holland opened the evening with borrowed members of said headliner. From Houston, Texas, she is currently living in Vancouver, Canada, but just got back from a long tour of Europe, which was a new experience. “The audiences are so polite,” she said. “It’s terrifying.”

She said it was good to be back in the Twin Cities and she was sorry for all the sad songs.

A professional musician since 2003, Holland is supporting her ninth album Haunted Mountain. Producing the album and playing bass alongside her for the evening was Adan Brisbin.

Holland’s sound is in the vein of folk rock but adventurous in exploring musical boundaries like adding a Rastafarian spiritual undertow to “Haunted Mountain.” A personal favorite was “Orange Blossoms” which highlighted not only her voice, but her ability to craft a heartbreaking song.

Buck Meek then joined Holland on stage for a duet of “Highway 72” to end her set, but you had a feeling you would see her again.

Big Thief (21 Oct 2019)

We last saw Buck Meek with his band Big Thief in Oct 2019. He has kept himself busy with his solo project, his third album also named Haunted Mountain. Why? Well Holland helped co-write five of the songs and Meek told Holland that he was going to do his own cover of “Haunted Mountain” as well as use the name for his album. Said Holland: “We thought about it for a minute and decided it was bizarre and wonderful. I am enormously pleased that Buck chose it as his album name too.”

Like Holland, Meek is also from Texas. Clash Music describes him as: “… an old soul with a Texan twang, and he radiates a gentle warmth and openness, underpinned with a modest wisdom.”

Meek grew up just outside San Antonio and began playing blues and folk at local venues, then honing his craft at The Kerrville Folk Festival, which is like summer camp for musicians.

Meek said it was good to be back in the Twin Cities, noting he enjoyed the vibe of the West Bank. “Feels like a sister city to Austin.” (Before corp. inc.) He was joined on stage by Brisbin, now on lead guitar, Ken Woodward on bass and other Ken on drums. He said he was enjoying traveling with his bandmates for the 23 hours that they were not on stage.

By the fifth song Holland had joined the band to sing the songs she had co-wrote with Meek through phone calls and text messages. (Meek’s “Haunted Mountain” was more upbeat and less haunting.)

Meek kept the chitchat to a minimum for it felt like he wanted to get through as many new songs that he could fit in. He did, however, ask the tech crew if they could turn on the above disco ball, which seemed to catch the crew off guard. So, Meek added, “Imagine disco ball.”