This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 18, 2010 - The holiday season is upon us, and at the Sheldon Concert Hall, that means the return of annual seasonal music concerts by Peter Mayer, Mitzi McDonald, the Soulard Blues Band and the Sheldon Chorale. Mayer brings his "Stars and Promises" tour back to the Sheldon Dec. 16, McDonald presents her annual "Christmas in the Kitchen" event on Dec. 7, the chorale performs on Dec. 13 and Soulard Blues Band presents its annual "Blues & Soul Revue" on Nov. 26.
But before these annual concerts get started, the Sheldon schedule includes two concerts featuring St. Louis connected artists Al Caldwell this coming Sunday, Nov. 21, and Phoebe Claggett on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Neither Caldwell's or Claggett's performances are tied to a holiday theme, which you may see as a plus or a minus, but both should both provide plenty of musical interest.
Born in St. Louis, Al Caldwell has established a national reputation as a bass player, touring with the likes of Vanessa Williams in recent years. Caldwell plays extended range basses consisting of up to nine and 11 strings, and is also proficient on many other instruments, including banjo.
This Sunday at the Sheldon, Caldwell will be performing with his band, the Traveling Black Hillbillies, in a benefit concert titled "Go Red For Women" designed to raise awareness of heart disease, which is a cause of death in more than one in four women.
Caldwell's TBH band features musicians Tim Cunningham, Kevin Kelly, Spud Taylor, Brian White, Tito Pascual, Jamal Nichols and Andre Thomas, and as the name implies, the music takes bluegrass and country blues as its base - and builds from there. As Caldwell states on his website, www.tbhillbilly.com, "A traveling black Hillbilly is a cultural nomad. Not necessarily black, but doleful in spirit." If you haven't had the chance to hear Caldwell play - especially with this band - you're in for a treat.
Phoebe Claggett
Phoebe Claggett is also a native St. Louisan, and started playing piano and singing at the age of 7. She released her first recording, "Poster On the Wall," at the age of 19. At Kenyon College, she played in several groups, expanding her musical interests into rock, pop and Motown. After graduation, Claggett moved to Los Angeles, and has worked with bands and as a solo artist at clubs throughout southern California, with a strong focus on playing her original songs.
At the Sheldon, Claggett will be sharing the stage with guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Preston Clarke, with whom she played last year in a cabaret concert at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Clarke is from St. Louis also, and has known Claggett since childhood.
Scott Rice will play percussion, and you can expect to hear songs from Claggett's brand new recording, "Rocketship," which will be available at the Sheldon concert - as well as plenty of other new material by both her and Clarke. Claggett, who names influences as varied as Sarah Vaughan, Joni Mitchell and Ben Folds, definitely has plenty of musical potential.
Terry Perkins has written extensively on music.