Sometimes it’s important to remember that there are things in this country that are honest, and decent, and true. For those times, it’s good to have Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams to listen to. Their latest album, Contraband Love (Red House Records), is a fantastic follow-up to their long-awaited debut album that came out just two years ago. Larry and Teresa are opening for Shawn Colvin at The Cabot this Friday, and it’s well worth the short drive to Beverly to catch these two. The show is sponsored by City Winery, which has done a great job finding alternate venues for their scheduled shows while their space is still waiting to open.
Although mainly a guitarist’s guitarist, Campbell can seemingly play anything that has strings (he was a long-time member of Bob Dylan’s band, and one of my most precious memories as a concert-goer was Larry playing fiddle on “Tears of Rage” one night in Augusta, Maine). Williams’s gritty vocal power sometimes conjures Lucinda, sometimes Emmylou, but she is really her own artist and comparisons fall short. Together, they are magical.
Check out this great session from Relix for a few tunes from the new album: