Big Table Welcomes Erin McKeown + Thank You Zoom Concert for Subscribers!

Let's hear it for laughter.

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with my very dear longtime friend Erin McKeown.

Erin and I were in what some would call a folk “supergroup” back in the early 2000’s. “Voices on the Verge” was a loose collective of four songwriters - Erin, Beth Amsel, Rose Polenzani and me.

VOV started off as an experiment imagined by our shared manager (who is also responsible for the questionable name). Onstage together, we would concoct coven-like harmonies. Erin would play tasty electric guitar licks and I would occasionally add clarinet. Blending our four distinctive voices created something unique, off-kilter, and at times really powerful. People liked it, so we recorded a live album together, “Live in Philadelphia”. When we headed out on our album release tour, we got a writeup in Billboard and e’rythang.

Voices on the Verge at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA 2001-ish. Courtesy of Erin. It’s blurry because it was a long time ago.

Looking at that list of tour dates, a couple of memories come to mind. One, after a few weeks of dealing with our antics, our tour manager started driving with a stuffed animal on his lap for emotional security. Two, we went to Anchorage, Alaska but only for 8 hours, because our manager had failed to book our flights far enough in advance. I remember a lot of snow, a packed house and then a lot of grumbling back at the airport. Three, for some of the dates, our opening act was Josh Ritter, who made us laugh so hard in the van, our stomachs hurt.

At the time, we were all in our 20’s, with all the insecurities people in their 20’s have. I, for example, went through a phase of constantly needing to hear more of my own vocal in the monitor to the point of nearly drowning out the other three. I had some issues. But together we helped create something singular and special, and I think we also just got a lot out of watching each others’ creative processes and stagecraft.

Erin and I were roommates on that tour, and sharing stuffy motel rooms across America for three months is an experience that will bond anyone for life. But our connection feels like more than just a shared past experience. There’s something fated about those friends you make when you’re wide open, unknowing, alive. Maybe those are the ones that stick. Erin is still the kind of friend I could pick up with after a decade and get right in the zone with.

Over the last 20 years, Erin has performed around the world, released 11 full length albums, and written for film, television, and theater.

Erin’s first musical, Miss You Like Hell, written with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes, opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2018. It was nominated for 5 Drama Desk Awards, including Best Lyrics, Best Music and Best Orchestrations, and The Wall Street Journal named it Best Musical of 2018. Erin has also been a Professor of the Practice at Brown University and a fellow at The University of Chicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. I mean, so cool.

Erin is always deliciously irreverent and I love them so much. And somehow, they always re-appear in my life when there’s something I need to be reminded of. To me they are like a playful spirit who emerges from the woods to help me course-correct, then returns, back through the woods and out the other side, transformed back into the rock star they are, thick black kohl around their eyes, wielding their guitar and wit, walking into the stage door of some theatre, ready to shake some shit up onstage.

This time, I think the course-correction was to remind me of the importance of laughter. Fuck, I have really needed to laugh lately, and thank god for Erin for helping! If you also need a good laugh, this episode is for you.

We decided to do a crossover convo for Jess Klein’s Big Table and Erin’s pod, Fax of Life.

I somehow missed the advance email where they asked me who I would like to send a fax to, something all Fax of Life guests are asked, but here’s a clip of what I came up with off the cuff.

This will be the last episode of the inaugural season of Jess Klein’s Big Table! Thank you SO much to all who have listened and offered your support. See you in late winter 2025!

I love you all so much! Join Me Sunday 12/29 for a Thank You Concert on Zoom!

I am so grateful to you folks for being part of this artistic life with me! 30 years in, I literally can’t believe I get to spend my time doing what I love. And it doesn’t happen without y’all.

If you are a subscriber here, came to a show this year, or 10 years ago, or have my albums, or just like one song of mine, you are part of what I do and I want to thank you!

The thing I do best is sing and play for you, so that is what I would like to offer y’all Sunday 12/29. If you have a request, please LMK in advance in the comments or by replying to this email.

Zoom Link is below for all my paid subscribers! Don’t forget to register!

Upcoming Shows:

1/30 Eno House, Hillsborough, NC - Song Swap with Wes Collins

3/19 White Horse Black Mountain, Black Mountain, NC

5/2 Trinity House Theatre, Livonia, MI*

5/3 WFMT Folkstage, Chicago, IL*

5/4 Bishop Hill Creative Commons, Bishop Hill, IL*

5/8 Cafe Carpe, Ft Atkinson, WI - Supporting Richard Shindell. Tickets go on sale soon!

5/9 Venue TBD, Effingham, IL

5/10 Bluff View Concerts, La Crosse, WI

*co-bills with Jenny Reynolds

Look at this beautiful group of subscribers! At our last Salon, these folks helped me compile a Holiday Songs/Anti-Holiday Songs Playlist. The Anti piece was inspired by my chat with Erin! We even got some non-December holiday songs, thanks to Nick & Chris who are from the UK and for whom “Holidays” means a vacation. Twas great!

Folks I’m learning a lot from right now:

Dedicate Your Life to Music - For my fellow musicians - Cassidy Frost is a brilliant and very successful publicist and artist who will, with the utmost sincerity and adorableness push your ass to get very clear on what you are creating and then how to brand it. They are a breath of fresh air. They focus primarily on helping women and queer artists but there are also some very happy and cool cis/het dudes in this community who are getting a lot out of Cassidy’s guidance.

Richard Shindell Words & Music - one of the greatest living songwriters writes about his travels, recording process and shares photography. PS I’ll be opening for Richard 5/8 at Cafe Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, WI! Tickets will go on sale soon.

Social Media Escape Club - You know you want to! Seth Werkheiser teaches you how to do it

Open Mike - (yes, he’s my partner, but he’s also brilliant). Essays on his experience in the music business and the world.