Saw her on the main stage of the Grassroots Festival (of Music & Dance) in Trumansburg, N.Y. sometime in the mid 2000s. She was the headliner at an events otherwise populated by traditional, folk and world music groups. I.e. woefully out of place. I was covering the festival for my alt-weekly and privy to backstage gossip, which ran toward her being stand-offish and a bit in her cups. According to the backstabbers, her failure to explore the fairgrounds and take in the other music (there are three stages) marked her as a show biz type who had lost her common touch.
As someone who also like her early albums well enough but had then largely lost track of her, I had been looking forward to to seeing her. But her performance was rote and tone-deaf to the nature of her audience and it seemed quite clear that she didn't know or care where she was. All this was during a period of casting about for Jones and it certainly showed.
I reviewed Balm of Gilead (2009) for Dirty Linen when it came out and agreed with others who found it to be a remarkable return to form. I don't pay much attention but I believe she has found her way forward again.
As someone who also like her early albums well enough but had then largely lost track of her, I had been looking forward to to seeing her. But her performance was rote and tone-deaf to the nature of her audience and it seemed quite clear that she didn't know or care where she was. All this was during a period of casting about for Jones and it certainly showed.
I reviewed Balm of Gilead (2009) for Dirty Linen when it came out and agreed with others who found it to be a remarkable return to form. I don't pay much attention but I believe she has found her way forward again.