Neko Case brings tour to B.G.

11/5/2009

On the road to promote her latest album, "Middle Cyclone," Neko Case will perform Saturday at Bowling Green's Clazel Theater.

The album, which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard Top 200 in March, was recorded partly in a barn on her farm in Vermont. The redheaded siren, who rescued pianos off Craigslist to use on "Middle Cyclone," considers herself a nerd, makes her song lyrics purposefully cryptic (the better for various interpretations), and hates auto-tune and anyone who uses it.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, she describes what her first gig was like and singing with her "other" band, the New Pornographers.

Q. Do you still have your six pianos in the barn?

I still do. I have eight pianos in the barn. Only six of them were tunable, so we only used six on the recording. And two of them will go to live permanently in the house.

Q. What was your very first gig like and why did you choose the drums?

My very first show, I believe, was in the living room of my friend's house and I was really scared but it was super exciting. And I was actually kind of shocked by how much I loved it, performing in front of people. And I knew everyone there so it didn't feel that weird, so that was cool.

That's a thing I love to think about because it was so scary and so exciting and two songs in, you know, you're hooked and you don't know to what extent. Maybe you don't realize that for the rest of your life. But you're like, this is the feeling that I've been missing. This is the feeling I've wanted to have.

Q. How does singing solo and with your band compare with singing/touring with the New Pornographers?

Well, it's different in that I don't write any songs for the New Pornographers so I have kind of a different relationship with them and those songs are way more athletic. So it's like being in spinning class for hours or going to rock 'n' roll Six Flags.

They're very different but it's a nice vacation from being so responsible for your own things. And so, I don't know, they're really good for each other. And both bands started at the same time so I honestly can't imagine one without the other.

Q. Do you find they ask you to do stuff with them but you can't because you have to do stuff with your band?

Sometimes that happens but luckily we have Kathryn [Calder] in the New Pornographers, so she can fill in for me when I'm not there.

Tickets for Neko Case's concert are $20 in advance and $25 the night of the show at the Clazel Theater, 127 North Main St., Bowling Green. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the box office. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show. Case will take the stage around 9.

The Block News Alliance consists of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Kate McCaffrey is a writer for the Post-Gazette.

Contact her at:

kmccaffrey@post-gazette.com