Laurel Hay CD Release Show at the Warming House

Special Guest: Lars Carlson

February 4, 2017

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All content by: Patrick Dunn

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As of February 4th, you can now check off the quaint Minneapolis listening room, The Warming House, as one of the places Laurel Hay has gone – and conquered. Her spirited CD release show that evening included every song off her debut album “Oh, The Places I’d Go”, plus a few special treats.

 

Opening act, Lars Carlson was also part of Hay’s band and delivered a piano recital-like accompaniment for set opener “Great Big World”. This simple sounding tune is just sparse enough to showcase Hay’s natural vocal styling, which in this case jumped out and grab listener’s attention to set a tone for the evening. Between songs, Hay seemed comfortable sharing insight into her process and spoke of her “Singer/Songwriter Challenge” Facebook group that utilizes writing prompts to spur creativity. She invited popular group contributor Sarah Morris up for added harmony on several songs including “Until the Cows Come Home”, which Morris wrote. Their best collaboration happened during “Vixen” (created from the writing prompt "scatter"), where they really seemed to find their groove and generate a fun vibe.

 

Hay’s Country flavor simmered nicely during the sweet “Salida” prior to shifting the spotlight to partner Ben Tomandl, who was also the band’s electric guitarist. Tomandl performed two songs he’d written for the challenge group, that nicely demonstrated how well Hay’s voice paired with his on harmonies. The upbeat Bluegrass infused “Lucky” produced the set’s fullest sound and resolved nicely into a brand new untitled track Hay composed entirely on mandolin that day. Finally, the album’s closing song “Dear Moon” was the perfect selection to also conclude what was a well-rounded evening of material that is part of our diverse local music scene.

 

Set List:

Great Big World

Until the Cows Come Home

I Think You’re a Dick

Vixen

Salida

The Things I Do For You

Old Fashioned Kind of Love (Ben Tomandl)

Caught Red Handed (Ben Tomandl)

Lucky

New Song (No Title)

Oh, the Places I’d Go

Junk in My Trunk

Dear Moon