
It's always a special time when Slaid Cleaves comes back to Maine. Cleaves grew up in South Berwick and got his musical start here. His promise was so great that Maine couldn't hold it, and he moved to Austin, Texas in 1991. Since then, he's continued to write, record, tour, and even release the occasional album - his newest, Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away (with liner notes by Stephen King), came out in April. (Read No Depression's review of it here.) His songs are a mix of folk, country, blues - Americana, if you will (and I think you will) - with literate lyrics and a tenor voice that's warm and scruffy as a faithful old dog.
Cleaves has never forgotten his Maine roots, performing here frequently, and this week he's doing several shows. Here's what the schedule looks like:
Sunday - 2 shows at St. Lawrence Arts & Community center in Portland, 4pm & 7pm (the latter's sold out)
Monday - Slates in Hallowell, 8:15 pm (sold out)
Tuesday - Bull Moose Music in Bangor, noon
Wednesday - Little Brown Church in Round Pond Village, 7:30pm
Thursday - Central School in South Berwick, 7pm
Saturday - Solidary Center in Brewer, 6pm
If you can't make any of these, at least you can watch and listen to him here. Enjoy a few songs from a man whose bio states, "Grew up in Maine. Lives in Texas. Writes songs. Makes records. Travels around. Tries to be good."