MUSIC

K.D. LANG AND THE SISS BOOM BANG

Gaillard Municipal Auditorium June 3 at 7:00pm

SPONSORED BY THE CITY OF ISLE OF PALMS k.d. lang, vocals with the Siss Boom Bang Daniel Clarke, keys and vocals Joshua Grange, electric and steel guitars, vocals Joe Pisapia, electric, acoustic and steel guitars, vocals Lex Price, electric and acoustic bass Fred Eltringham, drums and vocals

PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION.

k.d. lang, a native of western Canada, With Hymns of the 49th Parallel, her 2005 Nonesuch Records launched her career with a blend of debut, lang presented her most compelling set of material country-rock stylings and playfully punk- by other songwriters—all of them, in this instance, fellow like attitude, by turns whimsical and Canadians—as well as a gorgeous version of her own “Simple.” subversive. Back then, she practically put lang’s interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s oft-covered “Hallelujah” the alternative in alt-country. But from is understatedly stunning, and has become, along with her the beginning, her bravura singing belied interpretation of Roy Orbison’s “Crying,” a concert showstopper. her kitschy cowgirl outfits and spiky hair. Her most recent studio release, Watershed, was her first effort Anyone lucky enough to attend her first acting as producer as well as singer and songwriter. The Times appearance in the United States, on a triple bill of unsigned of London declared: “It’s a quirk of the music industry that one artists at New York City’s Bottom Line, could hear that she was of the sexiest, most sensual voices in all of pop music comes not marked for greatness. from some raven-tressed siren in a glitter-dress but a middle-aged After independently releasing A Truly Western Experience woman with a utility haircut and a penchant for male tailoring.” on a Canadian label in 1984, lang joined Sire/Warner Brothers lang herself called the album “a culmination of everything I’ve for her 1987 U.S. debut, Angel With a Lariat, produced by done—there’s a little bit of jazz, a little country, a little of the guitarist Dave Edmunds and recorded with her band The Ingenue sound, a little Brazilian touch.” Along the way lang Reclines. Shadowland (1988) followed and brought lang garnered two more Grammys, eight Juno Awards in Canada, and right to the heart of Nashville for a collaboration helmed Canada’s highest civilian award, The Order of Canada. by producer Owen Bradley, mentor to Brenda Lee and lang’s work has been regularly featured in movies—the lang/ lang’s idol, Patsy Cline. Lee, Loretta Lynn, and Kitty Wells Orbison duet version of “Crying” was originally recorded for a make guest vocal appearances on the album’s “Honky Tonk teen comedy called Hiding Out—but her most powerful work Angels’ Medley.” Though the Nashville establishment may in the visual medium has been on those songs she has created have remained skeptical about lang, Shadowland reached No. especially for films. She collaborated with composer Bob Telson 8 on the Billboard Country Album chart. (The Gospel At Colonus) on “Barefoot,” the haunting theme of Her Absolute Torch and Twang (1989)—winner of the German filmmaker Percy Adlon’s cult classic drama Salmonberries, Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance— which also starred lang as a young Alaskan orphan. With Siberry, combined her love of country with increasingly sophisticated, she wrote and performed “Calling All Angels,” from the 1991 emotive torch singing, typified by “Pullin’ Back the Reins.” soundtrack to Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World. With the platinum-selling Ingenue (1992), she had fashioned In addition to Siberry, lang has collaborated, in the studio and a sound all her own, elegant and impassioned, and bringing on stage, with many other pop and country performers, including forth her biggest hit, “Constant Craving,” as well as another Bonnie Raitt and Elton John. But her best-known collaboration Grammy, this time for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. has been with Tony Bennett, with whom she recorded the 2002 On subsequent releases, lang continued to expand the scope Wonderful World duets album and continues to tour regularly, of her songwriting and repertoire. All You Can Eat (1995) was often in symphonic settings. Bennett may, in fact, be her biggest the most experimental; the smoking-themed Drag (1997) fan, and he declared to the press what so many have come to underscored her gifts as an interpreter, utilizing material by believe over the last two and a half decades: “She’s the best composers ranging from Steve Miller and Air Supply to Jane singer of her generation.” Siberry and André and Dory Previn. Invincible Summer (2000) was perhaps her most sultry, a collection featuring bossa nova inflections and dreamy electronics.

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