Over the Rhine

Kurt and I had the absolute listening delight of attending an Over the Rhine concert Friday night at the Doug Fir here in Portland. I was introduced to Over the Rhine my freshman year of college by the cool sophomores on my dorm floor. At that time, they were a relatively unknown husband-and-wife duo who toured midwest liberal arts colleges and small venues in their homestate of Ohio. While they've remained small and have more of a "cult" following than throngs of international fans, they now tour all over the country (thank goodness!) and have continued to write and produce music. In fact, they're celebrating their 20th year this year. I love all types of music and have incorporated scores of songs (ha ha..."scores" :) into my emotional psyche over the years. Most musicians, however, were profoundly important to me during a certain era in my life, and while I have loads of nostalgia and affection for their music during that time, I can't quite get behind their new stuff (Dave Matthews is like that for me...dare I speak it out loud). Not so with Over the Rhine. Not only does their older stuff continue to evolve emotionally for me, but I truly love their newer songs. In fact, I think they just get better and better. Or rather, more fine-tuned and more confident in their musical style. At any rate, they are extremely talented musicians, and if you've never heard them or never given them a true listen, here are a few clips for you. The sound quality is poor 'cause most of them are concert clips, but I'll gladly lend you their albums if you'd like a thorough listen. Or just go buy an album for yourself and support Karin and Lynford!