Annie Palmer writes calico love songs. On Wake Up Son, her debut EP, she explores her subjects head-on, plain and tall, embroidering modern melodies onto the rootsy sensibility that comes with her Tennessee upbringing. It's a sound much closer to Laura Cantrell's neo-traditionalism than any sort of folk typecasting. Nowadays, Palmer calls Ann Arbor home, where she's part of an increasingly fertile songwriting and performance scene. Here are her monomanias as she gears up for her first tour, a six-day jaunt around Lake Michigan.
5. Canada and Starling Electric: Neither band gets enough attention. One is a folky septet fixated on shipwrecks and trees; the other is a baroque pop explosion. They both have full-lengths coming out soon, which are also awesome. Can I say "awesome" enough? Awesome.
4. Melatonin: Somewhere around the edge of 24 I realized that insomnia wasn't really all that cool.
3. SWF ISO Doting Male Companion: Must be unfazed by cats, poverty, frequently underdressed boy roommates and the prospect of commitment. Beard optional.
2. Go jump in a lake!: I'm about to embark on my first tour, and I can't remember the last time I was this excited. Sleeping on floors, eating from gas stations and riding the highways into springtime. Plus, now that gas is clicking off at $3 a gallon, there's really no better time to drive 1,500 miles in six days. ¡Viva la aventura!
1. Forgiveness: It's the wave of the future. Life's too short.
Wednesday, May 3, at the Blind Pig, 208 First St., Ann Arbor; 734-996-8555. With the Dardanelles, Jim Kidder and Chris Bathgate.
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