I had never heard of Annie Humphrey before seeing her as an opener for the Indigo Girls. My mom had seen her when she opened for the country duo 25 years ago, so seeing her again was a pretty big coincidence. We didn’t know that there was an opener for this show, but we were far from disappointed. She played 6 or 7 songs, with her on keyboard and 2 other musicians whose names allude me on drums and guitar. From just 3 instruments the atmosphere created was incredible, the soundscape was rich with cymbals and low strums and chords, if I closed my eyes I could see triple the players than there were. The music itself was slow, haunting in its deep lyrics, full of pain and love.
Mom and I rushed out of the auditorium after the show, and while the Indigo Girls merch line grew long the line for Annie Humphrey was much slower. She had 2 albums on sale and we weren’t sure which to get. We flipped a coin, and then decided to get both. While we were rung up for 2 CDs, Eat What You Kill and The Light in My Bones, the artist came to the table to package our discs. We told her we loved her performance and she thanked us. We should’ve gotten the albums autographed, but oh well.
On the ride back to drop me off at my apartment we listened to Eat What You Kill and talked more about Humphreys music than the headliner act. Not that we don’t both love the Indigo Girls, but we had never heard something like Humphrey. She’s an indigenous woman, and the music was representative of that. Talking about oppression she and her children had faced over the years, her time in the marines and her experience of being a mother. The music is slow, the soundscapes deep, the lyrics serious, everything the indigo girls aren’t. It was so opposite to what were expecting out of the night that it completely changed our expectations for the main act. I don’t have as much to say about Annie Humphrey as the Indigo Girls, only because I’m a newcomer to her work. Eat What You Kill is available for 1 dollar on band camp, but I recommend paying much more, it’s worth it. 3 of her older albums are available on streaming, her 3 newest are available for purchase on band camp. Give her a listen!
This review is going up alongside the review for the Indigo Girls All That We Let In, where I talk about seeing them in concert. Click here to read that review!
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