We arrived at Blackeyed Sallys early into Christine Ohlman's first set and found her rocking the joint in a hot pink paisley outfit, backed by the three-member Rebel Montez. No shinking violet she. She ran through some songs from her albums (Strip, Wicked Time, The Hard Way) including her great version of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away; the Beehive Queen also performed her tribute to New Orleans, The Cradle Did Rock and a new soul ballad, both of which will apparently be on her album-in-progress.
Between sets Christine chatted with us, firming up details of her Apple Harvest appearance with Gumbo. The conversation drifted to New Orleans since she has a great fondness for the Crescent City and knew we had gone there for Jazz Fest this year. We share a rather pessimistic view of a full recovery there because the neighborhood population, which gives the city its soul, has not returned. This issue is presented in Dan Baum's New Yorker piece Letter from New Orleans: The Lost Year - Behind the failure to rebuild (8/21/06). We told Christine we thought she'd be a great act to play at Jazz Fest and asked if she ever thought of playing there. No contacts was the reason, which is surprising because of her connection with the SNL band.
Christine Ohlman and Rebel Montez will appear at the Southington Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 7 at 5pm.
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