Gigi Dover with Mike Strauss @ Six String Cafe

Gigi Dover
Mike Strauss
Six String Cafe
Friday, May 27th, 2005

After work on Friday (and a layover at the local pub's happy hour with some co-workers) I ran down to Cary to the Six String Cafe. Gigi Dover and her band were there, opened by Mike Strauss. I had heard of Gigi from Merlefest, but I didn't catch enough of her Americana Stage set to really get an opinion. I set out to get a better one.

Nothing against Gigi, who was very adequate, but I was actually more impressed by Mike Strauss. He was playing solo with a bluesy, finger-picking style acoustic guitar. He had a great voice, very reminiscent of Mark Knopfler, and he was a great songwriter. His songs had a bluesy, rootsy feel to them. He seemed one of those genuinely honest artists, shyly geeky and just happy to be up there playing -- which is a high compliment, I think! It definitely got me involved, like he was an underdog I had to pull for.

(Stacy did you see that? Ended my sentence with a preposition! Tsk tsk...)

Gigi seemed a little uninspired by the lack of folks in her audience. The Six String has a fairly regular following, but they all seemed to have left for the beach or the mountains for the Memorial Day weekend. (There were traffic jams Friday going in both directions, I heard.) I can't say I blame her. It had been a rough week all around, and I was glad to start the long weekend. I'm sad to say I didn't stick around for the whole show. I was too tired.

I think Gigi's best song was on the Fresh Faces of Merlefest 2005 CD, Back When We Were Young. I liked her guitar/sitar player and bass player too, but I thought the band was a little unbalanced. She needs one more solo instrument, maybe a mandolin or fiddle, and -- this is an odd request from a traditional music nut like me -- but she really needs a drummer. The old school country flavor I think she was aiming for would've been well-served by a modest, steady country beat.