Hello everyone, it's time for another live review. I was raised on country music, having been born in eastern Kentucky, also the birthplace of many a country artist. Though for whatever reason, I've never really attended that many country concerts in my lifetime. I can count the times on one hand. However, I at least added to the total on June 28, 2025 when I saw Kathy Mattea, who was a favorite of mine when I was a child. Kathy hails from Cross Lanes, which is a tiny suburb of Charleston, West Virginia, and is very proud of her roots. She has also hosted the NPR program Mountain Stage since 2021, and she's very proud of that as well. The sounds of Appalachia are well-incorporated into her sound, with plenty of fiddle and mandolin, and having grown up in that region, it's really nice to attend a show with that kind of music.
Kathy did two shows on the night; I attended the later one. She began the show with two covers from her 2008 concept album Coal; Jean Ritchie's 1965 song "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore", and Darrell Scott's 1997 release, "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive". Both of these songs have been covered by many artists over the years. Johnny Cash, Billy Bragg and others recorded "L&N", while artists like Patty Loveless and Brad Paisley have also recorded covers of "Harlan". Both songs relate to the coal mining industry and the plight suffered by coal miners and their families; these two in particular are relevant to eastern Kentucky.
Nanci Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime", a cover of which was a 1986 hit for Kathy, was next, and it provided one of two audience singalong moments on the night. This was followed by the Pat Alger co-write "Goin' Gone" (coincidentally first recorded by the aforementioned Nanci Griffith) and Tim O'Brien's "Untold Stories", both of which can be found on Kathy's 1987 release Untasted Honey. Also in the first half of the show were "Mercy Now", a Mary Gauthier cover which is on Kathy's 2018 release Pretty Bird, as well as an as-yet-unreleased tune that might be called "My Kind of People".
Right in the mid-set slot was her signature song "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses", a song about a trucker who misses his wife, but he's about to come home to her for good, as he is about to retire from the road. This song provided the other singalong moment of the night. This was followed by an interesting version of "Come From the Heart" (also a huge hit for her and originally recorded by Don Williams). Another unreleased song that may be called "Green Side of the Grass" came after this one-two punch of hits. This song was co-written by the aforementioned Pat Alger, along with Kathy's husband, Jon Vezner.
We then got another cover, "I Can't Stand Up Alone", which was written by gospel singer Martha Carson, but is mainly associated with the late Jesse Winchester (Kathy's version is meant to be a tribute to him). One final one-two punch of hits rounded out the main set; "Where've You Been", another song co-written by Jon Vezner, a song about lifelong lovers that takes place at three different points of life and was based on Jon's grandparents, and then Kathy's final mainstream hit before she began to incorporate less radio-friendly sounds into her music, "455 Rocket". This song was co-written by Gillian Welch and is a song about the love between a person and their car and is a lot of fun live.
There was one encore song, a cover of Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit "Ode to Billie Joe". This version is more upbeat than the original is, but she sings it a lot better than I would've expected.
This was a really fun night, and even if you're not into country or folk music, may I ask you at least give her a chance? There is a reason I've been a fan practically my whole life, and she definitely did not disappoint. I do wish she could've played more songs, but with time constraints, it's only natural to have a shorter set than normal.
