Paul Rishell and Annie Raines ~ 2023 April 15 ~ South Shore Folk Music Club, Duxbury, MA
Annie Raines (vocals, harmonica, mandolin); Paul Rishell (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar).
Review
We thought we'd try out the blues duo Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, playing at the South Shore Folk Music Club in Duxbury, MA, the location of a number of enjoyable shows that we've seen over the past couple of years. We'd never seen Paul and Annie before, but they've been around for quite some time and have a devoted following. They characterize their music as country blues. Annie played harmonica on most songs, and picked up the mandolin for a few numbers. Paul played mostly acoustic guitar with a few songs on the electric during the second set. They sang individually and together, and played and sang with the easy familiarity that comes from doing this type of music for many years.
They had an affable and congenial stage presence and obviously enjoyed playing to a live audience. Many of the songs received a lengthy intro, with information about the history of the songs and the recordings. I learned quite a bit about how records were recorded in the early 20th century. This very interesting subject reminded me of Mark T. Small, another blues musician who loves telling the history of this type of music in America. Paul and Annie had no set list and were impulsive about deciding what to play next. They were a lot of fun to listen to.
The show started at 7:30. They played about an hour and took a break of a few minutes, during which time the friendly and helpful staff offered coffee and desserts for sale. Back for the second set, the duo were having such a good time they actually went for about twenty minutes longer than what was on the schedule. Clearly they were feeling joyful about being able to again do what they love best after everything was shut down during the pandemic time.