Welch and Rawlings sing country at 'Sco

The lives of baroom girls of the west, sharecroppers, lonely cowboys and murderers rang through the voices of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at the 'Sco on Thursday night. The folk-country duo's excellent performance displayed their musical accomplishment, compatibility, depth and sense of humor, but the show received its most powerful charge from the strength of story and culture that emerged through the duo's lyrics and style.

Welch and Rawlings took the stage unceremoniously, both dressed in black. Welch's plain, housewife-style dress matched her dark hair pulled straight back from her face. Her plain face and dress understated the impact of her voice and lyrics.

The audience of about 125-150 were seated in chairs around the dance floor at tables and received the duo warmly. A handful of non-Oberlin people were sprinkled through the audience.

Opening their set with a performance of "Tear My Stillhouse Down" off Welch's newest release Revival,  Rawlings and Welch quickly established their performance style. While singing lyrics with almost pained expressions, they hunched over their guitars, leaning slightly to the left, watching their instruments intently.

Between songs Welch walked away from the microphone, and initiated the next song by humming the first note, looking intently at Rawlings and bending over her guitar before moving into the microphone forcefully.

Welch's voice, strong and beautiful in the tradition of bluegrass-country singers, hit high and low pitches in true, accurate and expressive ways rather than simply beautifully. Her face reacted similarly, looking pained during emotional songs and carefree during more light-hearted numbers.

Rawlings shared a similar style, concentrating on his guitar during songs and singing with unique and expressive facial movements. One disappointment was that the lighting on stage made it difficult to see Rawlings clearly, as the spotlight centered on Welch.

The duo had an easy and intelligent relationship with the audience, telling jokes and stories between songs. Welch commented on the light mural on the back wall of the 'Sco. She said that it wasn't lit during the sound check. "I thought it was really subtle," she said.

Before singing their ballad, "Annabelle," Welch made an attack on the commercial and non-substantive Nashville country scene. She introduced the song, a long and sad ballad about the difficulties of sharecroppers' life, by saying that when moving to the country music mecca five years before she thought, "This town needs more sharecropping ballads. The `Row' needs more sharecropping ballads."

With similar subtle humor, Rawlings introduced their song, "Barroom Girls," by first calling the song a waltz, then pointing out the `Sco's multi-purpose cage. "Anyone who wants to get into the cage and dance should," he said. Welch said that if they had known there was a cage they would have brought their dancing girls.

The show hit a climax with two songs, "Dry Town" and "By the Mark." High energy with clever lyrics and a foot-tapping rhythm, "Dry Town" left the audience cheering louder than it had yet. Welch and Rawlings followed with a beautiful version of gospel tune, "By the Mark." With nice, but not overly emphasized harmonization, the song captured the audience's full attention.

Rawlings then sang lead on a song, an old cowboy ballad about Diamond Joe. The rendition was rich and powerful, with Rawling's guitar-playing carrying it.

After playing for about an hour, the duo left the stage to loud and full applause, only to return momentarily with two encores. The first, which they described as their "hit," was "Orphan Girl." Emmylou Harris originally recorded this song written by Welch, but Welch has reclaimed the song, infusing it with understated passion and sadness.

The last song of the evening was a new, unreleased ballad, "Caleb Myer" about a murderer. Welch told the story behind the song. She said that she learned it in the traditional way: from a drunk mandolin player in the backseat of her car.

Welch and Rawlings' attention to the stories and emotion behind their songs, without being overly emotional or sentimental, is what made their Oberlin performance so powerful. This characteristic could only evolve because of their vast talent, depth and experience.