Bill Callahan - Bill Callahan: Live at Third Man Records '2018

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Spring (Live at Third Man Records)
02. Jim Cain (Live at Third Man Records)
03. Ride My Arrow (Live at Third Man Records)
04. One Fine Morning (Live at Third Man Records)
05. Drover (Live at Third Man Records)
06. Riding for the Feeling (Live at Third Man Records)

The five years since Bill Callahan put out Dream River have marked his longest
hiatus yet in a career defined by momentum and steady changes—the
deepening of his voice, the magnificent refinement of his writing. His few
recent transmissions have all spoken to the same tranquil state of mind. There
was a curio of dub remixes, a paperback book of collected lyrics, a slow and
smoky contribution to a Grateful Dead tribute album. A few months after the
release of Dream River, a newly affianced Callahan revealed to Pitchfork,
“I love life more than I ever have, and I’m comfortable.”
Soon after, he became a father. In the 52-year-old songwriter’s own
words, when things are beautiful, just keep on.

Callahan’s latest release, a live set recorded at Jack White’s
Third Man Records in Nashville in the fall of 2017, doesn’t quite signal
a return to action. Its six songs are all selected from his last three solo
albums, a trilogy of releases between 2009 and 2013 with an emotional resonance
that seems to grow with every year. Coming from an artist whose body of work
feels almost sociopathically well-considered (“There [are] no extra
songs—I’m not an amateur,” he once said of his writing
process, which, for at least one album, involved a literal quill and ink), Live
at Third Man does have a slightly off-brand feel to it. Compared to his first
live album, 2010’s immersive Rough Travel for a Rare Thing, his
installment in Third Man’s ongoing series can’t help but feel like
a minor statement.

That being said, the opportunity to revisit Callahan’s music in different
settings and under different circumstances is part of his appeal. Any song or
lyric, or even just the utterance of a word, can hit you differently with any
listen. Without new music to highlight, Callahan’s recent shows have
explored the depth of his songbook, binding disparate pieces together and
allowing him to find new authority as a storyteller. Since 2013, I’ve
seen him play three times, each atmospherically distinct but equally satisfying:
once with a band, once solo acoustic, and once accompanied by guitarist Matt
Kinsey. The latter incarnation is the one documented on this album.

Kinsey’s playing can be just as beautiful and plaintive or as jarring as
Callahan’s lyrics. He builds a psychedelic helicopter squall during the
climax of “Spring,” then plucks atmospheric trills through the
transitions in “Jim Cain.” There’s an improvisatory flow to
their performance, evident as they let the dramatic pause in
“Drover” linger just long enough so the final refrain can ring with
well-earned victory. “Tonight we’re gonna test out some old
material,” Callahan tells the audience early in the show. It’s a
joke, but not really.

If Live at Third Man feels uniquely revealing coming from Callahan, it’s
down to the way the music sounds somewhat out of control—a night captured
at random, for better or worse, for posterity. With the arrangements stripped
bare, you notice inflections you haven’t heard before on his records: a
phlegmy growl in “Ride My Arrow,” the desperate tug in his throat as
he mimics a pleading audience in “Riding for the Feeling.” Just over
eight minutes into a ten-minute take on “One Fine Morning,” his
granite voice fails completely, breaking into a squeak as he sings the word
“part,” in, “Yes, I am a part of the road—the hardest
part.” Like all his most memorable moments, it sounds like an accident,
just inches away from a punchline. And somehow, it feels just right.

Electric Guitar – Matt Kinsey
Vocals, Guitar – Bill Callahan

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