Cygne

  There is this little bottle of perfume oil that a friend of mine gave me years ago when she still lived in Chicago. I held off using it. It was just so awesome, beautiful a scent that I had to really pick the moments for when I would indulge in using it. It so closely resembled rose oil. I don't like smelling bad, and so I shower....even if it makes me late. I wore this perfume oil for when I saw Cygne....Laura Meyer , the traveling blues/folk troubadour at Uncommon Ground on Clark. Rise Up!  I'm waiting for the right time to hear it. I like the name Cygne, gives her this luchadora mask, and reveals a more aggressive side through it. I waited for the right drive to hear Rise Up!

What she casually says in between songs has the gravity of Morgan Freeman dropping some casual knowledge in mid conversation. So imagine the power of her lyrics, when she says "I believe in ghosts".  She ain't trying to scare you with that, she's telling you what she learned from that belief.  I'm quite timid and the perfume pulls me out of this shell, or it makes it easier to carry the bloody shell around.....it helps. Sorry for bringing all that up in between about perfumes and all that, seeing the artists becomes such a thing that brings out these personal rituals of mine. It was Sunday 5 April. I don't recall the day as being really cold. I think it was a first gasp of not so cold weather. Parking around the venue I knew would be an extra special problem.   The Cubs were playing that day. Still I found a spot on Southport across from Music Box. So I make it.  So why the fuck do I go on about the process of preparation all the time? Hmmm, I think it is important to note effort. What got you there, in what state of mind were you in when walking into Uncommon Ground. I'd like to think the few five people give or take that saw Cygne did so deliberately, purposefully. As Cygne she has a new LP
   She packs such power in two minutes. Genius is modest, but comes packing. Righteous and aggressive is Too Good For A Bad Man. I mean really its like pissing off common sense. Her voice is clear, so you have nowhere to go before State Of America. Laura just channels her inner Melora Creager in that track. Break feels for me a welcome sweet left turn. I find it nice and endearing, I can identify it as something that will have lasting wonder for me. And its 3 minutes. Other tracks will hit. And you start to see how well it all works under the name Cygne.
  And Laura knew every individual that saw her, including me which feels like quite the honor. I thought that was fabulous. So she was relaxed. In between songs she gave extra insight into those that I've been listening to since the first time I saw her. There is a story behind Ghost that involves a haunted pizza joint....I think. Ah yes....Motel Room Blues #3! There was I think more than one track from Been Here Before. Walls....I think I heard that too. All those tracks are great with a band and they are intimate and impacting when it's just her and her guitar.
  
I noticed Laura does not use a guitar pick. I'm thinking now I should have written down the casual yet grand statements she says in between songs, about those very tracks, and about the nature of why we write songs to begin with. I mean seriously she channels Morgan Freeman sounding wisdom and coolness that she has packed on in miles traveling around the world and back.  Rise Up! is just kicking my ass right now. And while I do that, she releases Passenger 5th May. So there is no catching up to her. And I write slow.
  
Yet still her performances that I see I am compelled to document. I bought that and another LP Close To Home. Out of that one already two songs have grown on me Dungeon of Love and Blue Moon. Her back catalog actually stretches back, and there is a lot of music yet undiscovered for me. But it all started from Been Here Before and I recognized a lot from there. This live imprint will urge me to listen to new and undiscovered alike in one shot. She is blusey, cool, mysterious, introspective and still direct. I always feel wiser for listening to her songs. Its easy to identify with her statements. I feel fortunate to have seen her more than twice, and she casually reveals more of the moments that happened to make her write certain songs. Passenger now gives me more reason to want Cygne back to Chicago.