Cat’s Cradle Durham, NC
Contact: g@garretscullin.com
Web: @kittycraft_band
Players: Carrie Hansen, vocals; Pamela Valfer, vocals, guitar; Nils Bryant, guitar
The Cat’s Cradle is a big stage. Even bigger when there are only three on it—as in a trio. As in Kitty Craft.
’Twas such for this show: just two singers, two guitars—no backline, no drum riser, no bass rig, and no heavyweight pedalboards or other flotsam and jetsam of your typical touring act. Nope. Here was a stage set as stripped down as you could get, and the near-capacity crowd couldn’t have cared less. They’d already tasted the Kool-Aid, gulped it down, and from the first note, they were roaring their approval.
The songs came off like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist: “Faltered,” “When Fortune Smiles,” and “Par 5” were deliciously unpretentious, basking in simple chords that made room for thoughtful and well-delivered lyrics.
“Androgynous” was a bit of a head-scratcher since it was hard to understand what was going on—was it a protest tirade, an affirmation of alternative culture, or a commentary on the difficulty of telling the AC from the DC? In these days of Modern Times, it’s no easy feat. “A Priori” was deliciously low, and the crowd perked up and took notice—after all, there hasn’t been a song titled in Latin since Bad Bunny and Feid released “Perro Negro,” which, incidentally, isn’t Latin at all but Spanish.
There were so many stellar moments in this set: “11 Hours 16 Days” had a jumbled but sonically trippy arrangement, and some of Niles Bryant’s riffs were pulled straight from the Plain White T’s catalog. But so what? Good artists steal—great artists copy!
The key takeaway—aside from the solid sonics—is that everything from the songs to the light show, the constantly shifting images behind the stage (Think Barbara Kruger in a Robert Rauschenberg short film), the crafty cassette displays (Think Red Grooms meets Duchamp) at the modest merch table, and even the record covers were all designed and created by Pam Valfer, performing under her nom de groove: Kitty Craft. Including the 20-year-old backing tracks playing behind every song.
This was her one-woman vision of reality—framed by her songs, her lyrics, and the vast personal landscape she spread before this crowd with bold, unwavering commitment.
And if there was anything to be less excited about, it’s this: with such a stripped-down stage set—no bass player, no percussionist, nothing but backing tracks—there was very little musical interaction happening on stage. If that’s the sound she wanted, that’s the sound her diminutive trio delivered.
