Following the release of her third album
Blacklisted,
Neko Case's reputation was beginning to expand beyond the boundaries of the alt-country community when she appeared on the celebrated roots music television showcase Austin City Limits, and
Live from Austin, TX preserves the full 14-song set
Case played for ACL's studio audience on August 9, 2003.
Case's accompaniment is simple and spare on this set --
Jon Rauhouse on guitar, banjo and pedal steel,
Tom V. Ray on bass and
Kelly Hogan on vocal harmonies -- but
Case's warm, rich voice is big enough to fill the room all by itself, and her partners provide just the right accents for the sad but resonant songs that dominate this performance. Perhaps
Case's greatest virtue is her ability to sing with strength and authority without sounding histrionic, and that gift dominates this album; listen to her take on "Deep Red Bells" and you'll notice that while she gives a passionate performance that's deeply emotional and physically expressive, she has an intuitive sense of when to go full out and when to ease back, and the dynamics of the number are gorgeous, especially with just
Rauhouse's banjo and
Ray's bass filling out the arrangement.
Live from Austin, TX is less ambitious than
Case's 2004 live effort
The Tigers Have Spoken, in terms of both accompaniment and material, but there's a simplicity and cohesion to this set that's beautiful and satisfying, and anyone who has been impressed with the artistry of her studio work (especially 2006's brilliant
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood) will want to hear this concert in which her voice is given free reign.