Maria Taylor at The Waiting Room, Jan. 3, 2014

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Maria Taylor sounded amazing Friday night at The Waiting Room despite being under the weather. She announced from stage she was fighting some sort of illness and that she was losing her voice, though no one in the 150+ sized audience would have noticed if she hadn’t told them.

Taylor mixed old and new, backed by a band that included her brother Macey on bass and Mike Shackleford on drums (who opened the night with a brief solo set on guitar). The band was rounded out by a terrific guitarist whose name I didn’t catch. The ever-versatile Maria switched between drums, guitar and keyboards throughout the evening.  Songs off her new album, Something About Knowing, were feathered with Maria chestnuts such as “Lady Luck,” “Tunnel Vision,” and set closer “Clean Getaway.”

She came back for three more songs, including the wonky “Bad Idea,” a tune about growing old alone, which she said seems funny to her now (that she’s married with a son). That was followed by a solo version of “Good Start,” and a short take on “Folk Song Melody” off the new album.

I thought maybe we’d be inundated with stories about new motherhood (and who could blame her if she did talk about such a life-changing event?) but Taylor only mentioned her infant son once during the show. She said touring with him wasn’t much different than touring with any other guy. “I caught him peeing in a trash can, and when I wasn’t looking he tried to follow another woman into her hotel room.” Big laughs. Great show.

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The thing on the left is a dog sculpture created by local artist Julie Jenowe. The thing on the right is my dog, Evie.

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The collection includes songs by Jack Bugg, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Tim Kasher, Destruction Unit, Foxygen, Desaparecidos, Duke Dumont even Paul frickin’ McCartney.  The full track listing is here.

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I just looked at the temperature — it’s warmed up to -2, so I guess that means (as Cursive would say) the worst is over. Stay warm!

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.