Every day is a winding road, one that walks thousands of Americans by buzzing dive bars and music venues on any given night. In some parts of the country — say, Austin, Texas — the average passerby might be enticed by the thrum of an ongoing performance and fork over the $8 cover to head inside. In New England, that phenomenon is less common, and the curiosity towards art can be far harder to come by.
But on some occasions, such as Friday night’s installment of the Salt Lick Sessions in Concord, folks turn up and unwittingly challenge that stereotype, purchasing tickets strictly for the sake of supporting music. Yes, the show at the Umbrella Arts Center featured a headlining performance from Sheryl Crow, but the love afforded the three rising performers who preceded her implies that the room would have been full even if a multi-platinum artist weren’t in the building.
As a benefit for the Umbrella Arts Center, the evening paired a performance from Crow with three artists from Salt Lick Incubator, a nonprofit that helps musicians develop and sustain successful careers. The organization biannually selects a handful of promising artists to support, and Friday’s concert tapped a trio of awardees from the recent past: Paula Prieto, Vincent Lima, and Kyle Ray. For the 350 people gathered in the theater, the performers weren’t openers; they were exciting discoveries.
When Prieto shared songs from where “where [her] American and Argentine sides mix,” delivering feather-light melodies with conviction, the crowd vocalized along to her Spanish lyrics, as requested — likely unable to translate her sentiments, but tickled to participate nonetheless. When Lima culled storytelling inspiration from Greek mythology, they listened with rapt attention to his referential blend of cello-assisted folk and pop-rock. And when Ray rounded out the trio, they responded to the drawl of his Kentucky-bred outlaw country within seconds, hollering from their seats in a fashion that’s atypical of Yankees. By the time Crow emerged, the singer felt less like a main attraction and more of a cherry on top for a group of people who were just happy to be present for hours of live music.
Crow’s 12-song set gradually lassoed the audience from their seats, summoning attitude-packed hits from her four-decade career: The shrugging I-never-learn admission “Favorite Mistake,” the dogged high-velocity Southern rock of “Real Gone,” the breezy departure that is “Leaving Las Vegas.” (She spared everyone from the eyeroll-inducing Kid Rock duet “Picture,” thankfully). She tucked stories about Cat Stevens and Carlos Santana between select songs, keeping smiles central to her set — an easy feat when singing an affable tune like “All I Wanna Do,” but trickier to maintain for “Strong Enough” and her popular cover of “The First Cut Is The Deepest.”
True to the spirit of the evening, Crow refused the full spotlight during the finale, calling the three Salt Lick artists back onstage for “Soak Up The Sun” and nudging her mic stand next to her new pals on stage right. In her final minutes onstage, she intentionally redirected the focus away from her set, turning to the musicians to ask if they had released any albums yet.
Then she face the crowd, effectively asking guests to continue the support and sense of discovery that had been on clear display all night: “I expect you to buy them.”