THROUGH THE LENS: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – The Woodland Tour

One does not merely attend a performance by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Rather, it’s akin to a seance, which draws you in and you become privy to a creative dialogue that seems to transcend time and space. The evening, once over, never really ends. It’s as though the experience has been encased in amber; we remain transfixed, with the experience becoming indistinguishable from ourselves.

Not to say that Welch and Rawlings have remained the same throughout their careers. Before they were one of two incarnations: one was a two-person band named “Gillian Welch,” and the other, in an expanded lineup, The Dave Rawlings Machine. Welch was the primary focus in the former, Rawlings the latter. With their new album, Woodland, and this tour, they are a true duo.

You do not need me to praise the new album as so many others have already done so, including ND. Also of note is Sean Moore’s superb “Still Standing” article in ND’s Winter 2024 issue of the Quarterly Journal.

Rather, this column focuses on the the two shows I recently attended: November 20, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky (with Paul Kowert on bass), and November 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ND photographer Willa Stein also caught them on October 25, 2024, the duo’s third night of a three-night stand, at the Haw River Ballroom.

Willa told me that before her show “the crowd was a bit solemn with the news that The Grateful Dead’s bassist Phil Lesh had passed away. A friend told me they heard Gillian and David rehearsing The Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” at sound check. I thought for sure that this would be the encore, but much to my surprise, they opened with it. The crowd, with all our collective hearts, sang along. It was an unforgettable, poignant moment.”

From the outset both of my shows had sold out audiences that were eagerly waiting for these first post-COVID shows in their towns. I spoke with quite a few and all were long time fans. It was, by and large, a diversified, older audience. Every now and then I cautioned a gaze around the theater, no one was looking in any direction but the stage.

One thing I noticed was that, like the new album, Rawlings guitar work seemed more lyrical, more rounded overall. Both shows mixed older songs with seven from the new album, but there was a flow in the tune selection that felt organic. While the first sets were virtually identical at both shows, it was during the second sets that the music diverged to take on a more robust character. For example, in the Louisville show they did “Elvis Presley Blues” from Time (The Revelator). Whereas the Pittsburgh show featured the title track from that album, which had Rawlings performing an extended solo of such ferocity that the audience exploded at its climax. (Set lists for these two shows, as well as other can be found here.)

The energy from the Pittsburgh audience must have sparked something extra in Welch and Rawlings. They came out for a second encore consisting of three songs, including the as of yet unrecorded “Midnight Bones.” They’ve only performed that a few times, so it was an extra treat.

Finally, one thing that has always intrigued me ever since first seeing them some 30 years ago is Welch and Rawlings’ stage presence. Their giddiness, delightful banter, and, at times, a slight awkwardness remains unchanged. Despite having performed on stages around the world, including the 2019 Oscars, it’s these qualities that ground their songs, and themselves, and what makes them so endearing.

In the gallery below you’ll find photos from those three shows, and as Jim Brock is certainly as taken with them as I am, and has photographed them numerous times at the Newport Folk Festival, a few of his photos are included as a bonus. 

Click on any of the photos below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.