Were Peter Mulvey and Po’ Girl stopped by the blizzard of
April Fool’s Day, 2011, in Portland Maine? Heck no! They are not sissies and
despite the challenges of touring, they showed up and the audience showed up
and it was beautiful!
Peter opened the show with attention getting technical
prowess, his fingers doing the tango up and down the neck of his beautiful,
brown Martin guitar, the capo attached upside down and his thumbs playing bass
notes on either side of it as he sang the musical question, “If love is not
enough?”
If love is not enough then what's enough? I am listening
If love is not enough what keeps the moon bright,
What keeps the ocean glistening?
You think it's you, I think it's me
If love is not enough than what else can it be?
His warm baritone voice, relaxed demeanor and intelligently
written songs were a delight from the get go. “If Love is Not Enough” might
have been grafted from the same musical tree as Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of
Us” or “Aint No Sunshine When She’s Gone”. As an expert multi-tasker, he told
funny stories while retuning his guitar more times than Joni Mitchell. Mulvey’s
musical teeth were cut while playing for years in the Boston subway. He seems
totally at home on stage and has that sort of vital male energy that emanates
like sunshine, the way fit muscles burn calories at rest. Maybe it has
something to do with the fact that he sometimes tours by bicycle and conveys
his athleticism at a ‘song’ular level. His songs range from romantic to poignant
to jazzy to silly. He played a lovely version of, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”,
and one of his old standby’s, which he dubbed the happiest song he’s ever
written entitled, “Sad, sad, sad, sad.”
“Some People” is a humorous, Randy Newman-ish composition
comparing types of humanity.
Some people go to the tavern
Some people go to the church
Some senators go into the airport johns
And get their reputations besmirched
Some people go away from the altar
And leave some people in the lurch
And I go mmm mmm mmm mmm
Peter explained that he and the members of Po’ Girl met at a
songwriting camp, felt a connection and decided to tour together. Allie Russell
of Po’ Girl teased that they dubbed him their spiritual leader because when
they took turns riding with him during the tour they came back refreshed and
inspired. Po’ Girl members joined him one by one on stage, fleshing out his
solo performance. “Shirt” is one of those tunes that zeroes in on sadness,
love and things familiar. They assisted on “Charlie” (a composition about double
bassist, Charlie Haden) “Knuckleball Suite”, and the achingly beautiful,
“Shoulder Birds.”
Coming up on his roster he’s playing Tom Waits in a live
performance of the entire Tom Waits album, Raindogs. Also he is singing
the role of Orpheus in an upcoming show of the Anais Mitchell folk opera,
“Hadestown”. Peter Mulvey is a truly exceptional artist who should be much more
famous than he is. We wish him well.
You can find out more about him at petermulvey.com
