Venue: Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA)
Date: May 6, 2007
Opener: Kym Tuvim
After a day during which she was featured on local radio, Texas singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa was faced with a low-key, albeit enthusiastic, audience. Fairly unfamiliar with Hinojosa myself, I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me.
"She's great," she assured me, surprised I didn't already know this for myself. "All her stuff is great," she continued, "but I just love her Spanish-language songs. I have all her CDs." I mentally noted the high bar that had now been set for the night's headliner, and settled in for the opening act.
Kym Tuvim
Seattle singer-songwriter Kym Tuvim can sing. Trying to avoid any comparisons, the closest thing I can think of is to say her voice reminds me a lot of early Paula Cole, before "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" My second inclination is a comparison to Tracy Chapman, but only due to the husky tone of Tuvim's strong alto. In fact, as I overheard her telling my seat-neighbor later, Tuvim has heard the Chapman comparison "since middle school."Back onstage, however, Tuvim was a remarkable performer. She didn't bounce all over the place or boogie behind her guitar, and she didn't need to. Her songs were thoughtful, provocative, and relatable. Her voice wes solid, strong, and soaking with soul. Unfortunately, she had to yield the stage to Hinojosa eventually, and the break between sets didn't last too long.
Tish Hinojosa
Backed by Troy Wells (from Lubbock, Texas) on guitar and mandolin, Tish Hinojosa took the stage. It was a complete shifting of gears. Where Tuvim's songs soared through soulful, emotive vocals, Hinojosa's soul was marked more by her lyrical odes on nature.She started the show with a series of songs about rivers, including the gorgeous "By the Rio Grande," and "Laughing River Running." While natural imagery is often misused, or simply overused, in contemporary folk music, Hinojosa's seemingly innate reverence for nature pours through these songs.
As my seat neighbor had correctly forwarned me, Hinojosa's Spanish-language songs were the most gorgeous and equally as soulful, particularly the crowd favorite, "Aquella Noche." Other highlights included "Roses Around My Feet," with its heartwarming chorus, "Roses around my feet are telling me something / Roses around my feet, I used to feel nothing." The only disappointment was in the relative smallness of the crowd. No doubt Hinojosa deserves a far larger following.
