Catie Curtis at the Blue Door

Anybody remember Echo.com? Way back in 1999 — when dinosaurs still roamed the Internet — they were one of the first streaming music sites. You could choose the genres you liked and rate songs as you listened to them. It died, like so many young sites of its generation, it died before its time (5 points if you know the reference). It was on that site that I first heard Memphis by Catie Curtis and became an instant fan.

About 2 weeks ago, Catie made her first appearance at the Blue Door. This is a unique venue in OKC — an old house converted into a small concert hall. As you approach, the blue doors that adorn the front of the house are at the back of the stage once you enter. Visitors bring their own drinks and the owner welcomes everyone personally. The walls are covered with concert posters from the many independant artists that have performed there over the years. If you live in the Oklahoma City area this is one of those places you need to visit at least once.

Opening for Catie Curtis was Oklahoma’s own Carter Sampson. Carter is one of the best folk artists we have in this area. Actually, she’s one of the only folk artists we have. It’s surprising, in the land of Woody Guthrie, that there is not a bigger folk music scene. Or am I just missing something?

Carter had a great set with some new songs that she’s about to record. She ended with a folk version of Viva Las Vegas, then came back later to do a song with Catie.

Catie Curtis was awesome, as usual. She opened with a cover of Death Cab for Cutie’s Soul Meets Body. She played some new songs (her new album comes out in August) and lots of old favorites.

I highly recommend seeing her in person — her shows tend to have about as much humor as they do music. During one song we started hearing an alarm blaring outside. Catie tried to play through it, but finally stopped and looked through the blinds at the back of the stage. “The thing is,” she said, “that sounds like it’s coming from where I parked.” She managed to get through the song, at which point someone informed us the alarm was coming from the church across the street. Catie then started playing Larry, which had a surprising similar rhythm to the alarm.

Also, Catie was trying out a new loop machine. She caught the crowd by surprise the first time she used it when she stopped strumming her guitar but the music continued. It seemed to work well with her guitar, but less so with the drum-like apparatus (Can you tell I’m not a musician?).

All in all, it was a great show. The place was packed and the crowd was really excited about both performances. Hopefully that will mean Catie Curtis will come back here soon.