I’ve been doing some work recently with Vance Gilbert on voice and performance. And he’s been trying to push me out of my comfort zone, to play something really different from the type of music I play. I understand his goal – it’s not that there’s anything wrong with folk; it’s that the kind of music I write and play is careful and self-contained and he wants to see me come out of my shell. I like to joke that I grew up in a “folk cave.” Folk, and related musics, are all I’ve ever listened to. I never (except for a two-week period in 8th grade) listened to commercial radio; I didn’t watch television. People in my life will marvel over the songs everyone knows but that I’ve never heard. So coming up with something that I’d find compelling enough to put into my live show (and that is outside my usual music), is a trick. Especially because the one kind of music I really hate is jazz. Always have. It stresses me out. To me it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. So Vance’s suggestions in that area have been non-starters. Last night I had an insight. I went to Sierra West’s CD release show at Passim, and at some point she did a cover of a Rolling Stones song. Of course, the only reason I knew it was a Rolling Stones song was that she told us it was. And the insight wasn’t that I should play a Rolling Stones song, but rather that the kind of song that would be cool to put in my set would be something that people instantly recognize but that no one would expect me to play. I was musing about that on my way to see Vance today and I told him about my insight. After a vocal warm-up he said, “okay, play me something completely different from anything I’ve heard you play.” Given that I’d just had this insight I hadn’t prepared anything, and had to cast about for something that would sound sufficiently different. The only thing I could pull out was King of the Road (“Trailers for sale or rent . . .”). I’d never played it before, and don’t even know how I came to know the song, but it’s not that hard to figure out how to play it on the fly. So we played around with that today (it’s a fun song!), and then started a list of songs that could fulfill my criteria and Vance’s. One leading contender is Sixteen Tons; others include Ring of Fire and St. James Infirmary. Vance also suggested considering songs by Nina Simone (although I fear she’s too close to my jazz cutoff), Johnny Cash, Van Morrison, and Robert Johnson. What do you think? Got a song to recommend? I’d love to hear what unusual (for me) song you’d like me to sing. And if you show up at a show this fall (especially the September 17th show at the Burren!) you might get a chance to hear one of them.