A LOOK BACK:   April 24, 1997 at the Troubadour

I caught this brother-sister country act for the first time at the Troubadour in 1997. Their sibling harmonies reminded me of the Kendalls. (I love the Kendalls!)

The set list:

• California Cowboy
• He's Still the One
• Take the Reins
• What to Do
• The Trouble Is
• What I Like About You
• Wrong
• Dream
• encore: Later Honey
• Home to Nashville

There are a lot of country performers in California who have no use for Nashville whatsoever. And there are probably just as many in Tennessee who think that Nashville is IT. Tommy and Krista Holdenhill do the diplomatic thing by claiming to be "California cowboys" who can also go "home to Nashville."

They take turns singing lead. Both have equally good voices. Tonight they were backed by a group of veteran musicians who complemented rather than overwhelmed the vocals. The band included guitar/mandolin virtuoso Tom Corbett, guitar whiz John McDuffie and longtime Barn Dance Band bassist Paul Marshall.

The Holdenhills were the only act on the bill to inspire dancing, something unheard of in a showcase like this where the set includes only original material. None of that "Achy-Brakey" crap here.

The show included lots of catchy songs that will probably bug me for weeks until I finally go out and buy the CD. My favorite was Krista's "What I Like About You" - not the New Wave song, by the way - which chugged along like June Carter singing Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me."

     

The main set concluded with "Dream," which is probably the only mainstream C&W song we've heard that starts out fast and then has a slow middle section. The singers use the slow part to hand out "DREAM" medallions to the fans up front. When the supply ran out, Tommy took off the one he was wearing and gave that one away, too. It was a nice gimmick - like Elvis and his scarves.

Click on filmstrip to see animated .GIF (142 KB)

Also on the bill: Muffin (billed as "Jimmy Muffin"), Erin McCaffrey, Mark Insley and Aynee Osborn.