SOUNDTRACK: JACK INGRAM, MIRANDA LAMBERT, JON RANDALL: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #226 (June 21, 2021).
The sight of three people with guitars wearing cowboy hats meant that I wouldn’t enjoy this set. (At least it was only ten minutes).
Having said that, while there’s something I instinctively dislike about Lambert (she always looks really smug and/or pissed off), her voice is quite nice and not terribly twangy.
I think I’ve heard of Jack Ingram, but possibly not Jon Randall.
After collaborating on “Tin Man” from Lambert’s 2016 record The Weight Of These Wings … the artists spent five days last November recording in Marfa, Texas. In this (home) concert, the trio turns its quarantine album, The Marfa Tapes, into a quarantine Tiny Desk set, complete with a well-appointed desk in the corner of the frame.
They play three mid-tempo songs with pretty guitars, pretty melodies and nice harmonies.
They start with “Waxahachie.” But in the way that hearing an okay cover of a song makes you want to hear the original, this song made me want to listen to the band Waxahatchee instead.
“Tin Man” (“Our award-winning song,” Lambert jokes. The track won the 2018 Academy of Country Music Award for song of the year) is a fine song. I’m not sure what led it to winning an award, though.
At its conclusion, Lambert lets out a laugh and the trio exchange knowing glances before finishing the show with “In His Arms.”
“In His Arms” is one of Lambert’s favorites on the disc. It has a pretty guitar melody from Jon Randall (I guess I’m supposed to know which guy was which since they were never introduced). There’s some really nice harmonies on this song as well.
[READ: June 28, 2021] The Herd
Every once in a while I get to see some new books that come into work. I saw this one and was intrigued by it. I hadn’t heard of Bartz, but the book sounded exciting.
Then by the time I got around to reading it, I forgot that it was a thriller, and I found myself getting really invested in the characters. The story was such a delightful book of female empowerment that I was really surprised when it turned into a mystery.
The story is about four women. Eleanor Walsh is CEO of The Herd, an elite, women-only coworking space. After making her fortune with a women-friendly cosmetic line, she established The HERd [capitalization intended] as a place where women could work side by side, bouncing ideas off of each other. She became a feminist icon. And was accordingly hated by insecure men–including an online group called the Anti-herd.
Mikki Danziger is a college friend of Eleanor’s. She is an artist, and she creates most of the visuals for The Herd. She’s a little annoyed that she (one of Eleanor’s oldest and best friends) isn’t on the payroll–Eleanor keeps her as an independent contractor. But aside from that she is thrilled to share in Eleanor’s success.
As is Hana Bradley. Hana is the third of the above trio of women who all went to Harvard together. They have been best friends since college. Hana is a PR specialist and she has managed to keep Eleanor out of trouble as she works to expand her business. She is also a n independent contractor.
Hana’s younger sister Katie is also a friend of the others. They initially took her in as a little sister. But when Hana went to the West Coast for grad school. Katie filled in the gap and they embraced her as an equal. (more…)
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