British singer-songwriter Callaghan is coming to The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor on Saturday, May 11. (Photo courtesy Melissa Farina)
Mother’s Day music: When I reached British singer-songwriter Callaghan by phone on Friday, May 3, she was on the road, fresh off of a gig the previous night at the Museum of Commerce in Pensacola, Fla. and soon to be performing at the Standard Deluxe in Waverly, Ala., on May 5.
“It’s a cool place,” Callaghan, who goes by just one name, said of the Museum of Commerce. “They have a little baby grand in there.”
Callaghan is a lovely woman with a lovely, soothing voice that has been compared to that of Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and American bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss, and she is coming to The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor on the evening of Saturday, May 11.
Callaghan, who has lived in Palos Verdes, Calif. for the past 2 ½ years, said her May 11 visit will not be her first time in Maine, but it will be her first time playing at the opera house. “I never played at that venue before, but I was in Maine several years ago when I played with (singer-songwriter) Shawn Mullins,” Callaghan said, adding that the May 11 date will be her first headlining gig in Maine.
“I’m very excited about it,” she said.
Callaghan said she will be appearing at the opera house with one other musician. “I think it’s going to be another musician from Nashville – Vanessa Olivarez, on background vocals and percussion,” she said. (Callaghan lived for several years in Nashville before moving to Southern California.)
“It’s always nice to be back out on the road,” said Callaghan, who is about a month into her current tour. “It’s good to get the audience’s reaction to the music. I like the studio, but I like to get the audience’s reaction. I like to chat with people afterward at the merch table.”
Callaghan is touring in support of her self-titled album “Callaghan,” recorded in Los Angeles and released last August. Describing the album as “a big, luscious production,” she pointed out that her Boothbay Harbor show will be a “stripped back” version of that, “a couple of instruments and vocals.”
Callaghan said she likes to chat between songs: “I love to talk to the audience and tell a story behind the songs, stories from on the road. They forget where they are for a couple of hours … forget whatever stressors they have in their real life.”
Take a listen to Callaghan’s “When You Loved Me,” at youtube.com/watch?v=4jgNn8NIF9I, for a taste of the kind of relaxing, fulfilling evening one has in store on May 11. Go to callaghansongs.com to hear and learn more, including how to preorder her upcoming album “Callaghan’s Coffee House Vol. 2.”
Latingrass band Che Apalache hits the stage at The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor on Friday, May 10. (Photo courtesy The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor)
The day before Callaghan appears at the opera house, Latingrass string band Che Apalache will perform, making for some excellent choices for music on Mother’s Day weekend. Che Apalache offers an intriguing hybrid of Latin and Appalachian music, as the band’s name implies, sung in both Spanish and English. Band members are from Argentina, Mexico, and the U.S. Check out “Maria,” at youtube.com/watch?v=NnNhpBp1UeM, and the a cappella song “The Wall,” at youtube.com/watch?v=ypmUFLL1QSs, to get a sense of the range this group covers.
Che Apalache performs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Tickets for the show are $25 at the door.
Callaghan performs at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 11. Tickets are $25 at the door.
Advance discounted tickets for both shows are $20 each, available directly from the box office before the day of the show.
The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor is located at 86 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Call the box office at 633-5159.
(Christine LaPado-Breglia has written about the arts in both California and Maine. She is the recipient of two 2018 Critic’s Awards and a 2018 Local Columnist award from the Maine Press Association. Email her at clbreglia@lcnme.com or write her a letter in care of The Lincoln County News, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543.)
