Written by James Killen
I’m always on the lookout for new musicians to listen to and new venues to experience. It piqued my interest to see Rachel Laven and her buddies from high school (the other members of Sweet Shine and Honey) performing at Visionary Heights for a donation. As it turns out Visionary Heights is registered as a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to promotion of the arts. It occupies a humble space on Nicholson in The Heights and has the ambiance of a small art gallery and house concert space combined. Be aware that the parking for this location is very limited and you might have to walk two or three blocks.
On this evening the walls were decorated with the works of Clemente Garcia-Lassaulx. They were for the most part expressionist paintings featuring a small thematic motif. The artist was in attendance and gave a brief talk about his art and how he expressed his music in colors and textures on the canvas. His prices were reasonable for original artwork.
This evening was the first time that Rachel, Stephen, Addison and Sam had played together in six months and at one point, Rachel even welcomed the small audience to the “rehearsal”. They limbered up with the nebulous intro to “On Your Own” that gradually drew us into their unique jazzy bluegrass style. The music carried on with “Wildfires”, a cover of The Steeldrivers’ “Reckless Side of Me”, “Wishing it Away” and a dedication to the current administration, “Counting Pennies”.
Rachel gave Walt Wilkins a plug before covering his “Somewhere Like Heaven”. “Second Chances” featured a jazzy intro and Sam’s always entertaining animated bass playing, before a rousing “Still House” to bring the first set to an end.
There was some time to mingle, grab a small plate of vegan fare, and talk with some of the other singer songwriters in the audience, like Ken Gaines and Jeanine Higgins. Ken called the audience back to their seats with his commanding voice, as there is no PA system at Visionary Heights, at the end of intermission.
Rachel Laven started out the second set solo performing a song that she wrote with Andrew Delany when he suggested that they write a feminist country song. Rachel had contributed all of the misogynistic experiences that she had collected in her still budding career and they strung them together in verse to make a song called “Heels” in reference to Ginger Rogers having done everything that Fred Astaire had done only backwards, in heels.
Rachel continued solo with a new one called “Home” about the family home turning 100 years old. She introduced “Rambling Soul” (formerly titled “Gypsy Soul”) about her colorful aunt. The band began to return to the stage during the song and gradually add to the song as they reformed. They continued with “Juniper”, “Only Thing Familiar”, and “Love and Luccheses”. Addison Freeman and Sam Snavely led the improvisation on an avant-garde style instrumental, before ending the set with “Angel Tonight” and “Finish Line”.
In response to calls for encore, the band gave several choices to the audience for what they would like to hear. We of course greedily asked for them all and were rewarded with a cover of The Beatles “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and an a cappella version of “Down in the River to Pray”.
As always it was great to see Rachel and the guys. It was also nice to be introduced to the Visionary Heights experience. It seems to be a gathering place for a number of the local singer songwriters. The space is offered for any creative endeavor and is tax deductible for patrons looking to give local support to Houston artists and musicians. Check them out on Facebook and look for an opportunity to catch an event there.