Tangerine Trousers

continued

The CD being released that night was Dressed for Success, but the band pulled from what appeared to be a bottomless vat of luscious songs. I loved the klezmer-Celtic fusion of "The Bed That You Made," the sultry waltz "Boy Gone Blue" — with its toes-over-the-precipice rests that fall into zillion-part harmonies — and a song penned by Sayers, the gospel-tinged "Hannah." Just gorgeous.

The Trousers are a spirited lot, whose shows (I've since gone to another) are liberally dosed with patter, banter, hijinks, choreography, and shenanigans, some of which looked like a gas to perform in front of people. For what it's worth, I find this choice confusing, as if they somehow feel the music isn't enough. Trust me — it's enough.

By the time you read this, the Trousers will have no doubt earned a few thousand more converts; they were featured at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival in January. They're back at the Ark on Saturday, April 24.   

[Originally published in April, 2004.]