Ordinary Elephant: The Woody Guthrie Center
On the first Saturday in October, the Woody Guthrie Center opened its doors to host K.C. Clifford and Ordinary Elephant in its small, intimate theater. The theater is the perfect environment to serve as a listening room. Due to the excellent acoustics, an acoustic show is where the theater really shines, giving concert goers the feeling they’re up close and personal with the artists.
Opening the show was K.C. Clifford. Clifford, an Oklahoma native, has been in the music scene since 2000. She’s released numerous albums and her self-titled album will be released in January. K.C. began the night with a Woody Guthrie song, “Pastures of Plenty.” Appropriate, not only because of the location of the concert, but also because K.C. is a three-time Woody Guthrie award winner. Warning the crowd that coming to one of her shows is a lot like coming to therapy, K.C. continued her set by introducing her husband, David Broyles, and then launched into the song, “Red Dirt Roads;” a song that seems to be autobiographical and one that K.C. wrote for the album, The Tag Hollow Sessions, which stemmed from her time at her grandparents lake home, Gleneyrie (named after her grandma, Glennes). During the set, K.C. touched on some personal stories, like her 100 pound weight loss, but still feeling small inside. As well as the fact that during that time, she felt like she was making her music about her appearance. “Jericho” was the song that she wrote about the weight loss and how she felt during that pivotal time. That song and “Songbird” are both from her 2010 album, Orchid, rounding out the set were the songs, “No More Living Small” and “Salt.” To be honest, I had no expectations when I came to this show, but the fact that K.C. was so honest and open during her set reduced me to tears a couple of times. I can now see why K.C. says her shows are like going to therapy.
K.C. Clifford | The Woody Guthrie Center
After a fifteen-minute intermission, Pete and Crystal Damore, the duo that makes up Ordinary Elephant, took the stage. Pete and Crystal are partners not only in music, but also in life. Sharing one microphone, the two faced each other for the entire set, giving a greater sense of closeness and intimacy. With their quiet way, they took the theater through 45 minutes filled with stories and songs and one poem that anyone who has lost a grandparent can identify with.
Crystal and Pete have been on the road traveling the last five years with their three dogs, but it wasn’t always like that. In fact, they both had careers they gave up in order to pursue their dream of music. He was a computer programmer and she was a veterinary cardiologist. Since then, the duo has been named the International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year and were official showcasing artists over the last two years at AmericanaFest. They also released their album, Honest, in May of this year. I can’t think of a better album title for these two, as their songs all feel just that, honest. Their observations of their fellow man and putting those observations to words is truly remarkable.
Ordinary Elephant | The Woody Guthrie Center
Starting the set out was a song that Crystal wrote for her mom, called, “I Come From.” The descriptions in this song, and all the songs of Ordinary Elephant, paint a picture for the listener.
“Eggshell white/ Paint in your hair/ Dirt beneath your nails/ Years on the back of your hands/ Some things can wash clean/ And some, will stick around/ Blades of St. Augustine/ Scattered across the driveway/ It still feels like Sunday/ When I hear a Cajun band”
The next song, “Hope to Be That Happy” is about Crystal’s grandmother that recently passed. The song is a hope that one day, she will still be as happy as her grandmother, regardless of what pitfalls and tragedies might befall her during her journey. “The War,” inspired by a visit to Washington D.C. and the Vietnam War Memorial describes what it might be like to love someone who is a Vietnam Vet, visiting the wall that doesn’t bare their name, yet still existing in a country where it’s a shameful war that isn’t often discussed.
All Photos Courtesy of Melissa Payne
“Scars We Keep” and “Jenny and James” completed the set for the evening, but it was the reading of the poem “Yardstick” by Crystal that was one of the most impressionable and favorite parts of their set for me. Crystal’s voice is calm, soothing, but attention grabbing. If she ever stops singing she could get a job reading audio books. The poem can be found with others in their book, Words to Read, a collection of poems that they’ve included in their fan newsletters.
Overall, I thought this was a night of emotional, honest storytelling from both K.C. and Ordinary Elephant. If you have the chance to check out either of them, you need to do so. Or if you just need a night of therapy, a good cry and some soothing voices, you’ve come to the right place.
