Shovels and Rope, November 11th, 2012, The Bishop, Bloomington, Indiana

I'm feeling very blessed this morning. Last night, Taylor and I joined a true showing of support for the band, Shovels and Rope, at The Bishop in Bloomington, Indiana. Mike and Cary Ann are a married duo from Charleston, South Carolina, who after solo efforts and collaborations with other musicians, joined forces, taking their talent and their palpable love affair with each other and their art, on the road. I know the term soul mates is weakened by overuse, but if you looked up the term in dictionary of my imagination, there would be a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Trent so worked up in their performance for themselves and each other, that the audience could leave and this party of love song birds would barely notice. They are the most dynamic performers I'm ever witnessed and I've seen hundreds of concerts. Particularly when Mike is standing with his guitar and his better half, Cary Ann is drumming so skillfully, they rarely take their eyes off each other, almost hypnotized post crescendo with their faces inches from each other, still playing instruments, while most of us can't stir a pot and answer a phone at the same time. Despite that many of their songs are about death and murder, this show was sweaty and sexy and incredibly romantic. I cried during the sweet and slow, Lay Low and stomped my feet during Boxcar. I can't wait to catch them again and insist that EVERYONE try to see their live act. We left The Bishop feeling we were the luckiest gals in the world, when I'm pretty sure the luckiest gal in the world is actually Cary Ann. Rock on woman!