If Katie Crutchfield ever becomes a solo star, it's hard to imagine how the Waxahatchee singer's most bruised and beautiful songs will translate to a gigantic stage. Tucked into a back room at Stubb's during SXSW on March 13 — and following in the immediate aftermath of Nick Cave's swaggering turn under the stars — Crutchfield opened her 25-minute set with a string of fragile solo songs, each more delicate than the last. This was interior music, made of guts and nerves and other viscera we don't share easily.
But then, about a third of the way through, Crutchfield showed another side: She took her odes to nervous doubt and lonely ambivalence and amped them up as the head of a killer power trio. It makes sense that Crutchfield would want to showcase both halves of her personality, given the solo-to-full-band transformation that occurred between last year's debut, American Weekend, and Waxahatchee's fine new album, Cerulean Salt. What's remarkable is the way each side — vulnerability and forcefulness — enhances the other, to moving and cathartic effect. -- STEPHEN THOMPSON
Set List "Noccalula" "Tangled Envisioning" "Coast To Coast" "Peace And Quiet" "Be Good" "Lively" "Waiting" "Brother Bryan" "American Weekend"
CREDITS Producers: Mito Habe-Evans, Robin Hilton, Amy Schriefer; Technical Director: Kevin Wait; Event Coordinator: Saidah Blount; Assistant Producer: Denise DeBelius; Videographers: Christopher Farber, Katie Hayes Luke, A.J. Wilhelm; Audio Engineering by Metro Mobile; Production Assistants: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo, Ryan Smith; Special Thanks to: Stubb's and South By Southwest; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann, Keith Jenkins.
