I’m With Her: The Female Supergroup

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I’m With Her– a female folk trio comprised of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan

Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, USA, March 2nd, 2018

The music of I’m With Her is like a lullaby, and Thalia Hall in Chicago became the band’s big swinging basinet on Friday March 2nd.

I’m With Her played 90 minutes of acoustic music-interchanging their guitars, mandolins, violins, and banjos, but always keeping their melodies and harmonies perfectly taut.

With that, the steadiness of the vocals and arrangements left very little room for surprise or improvisation. There

I’m With Her (credit:Gwynnie)

was one moment in which violinist Sara Watkins broke out and looked like she was going to vocally go “off the page,” but even that moment gave us the sense that they agreed in rehearsal, “Hey, take four bars and kind of let loose a little…but don’t go too far!” I’m With Her is a well-honed harmony machine, and maybe that’s why their music veers toward being predictable. After a song or two, you start anticipating the vocal perfection, which isn’t necessarily challenging to the listener, but it is very…soothing.

Personality-wise, there were some smiles among the three, but there was little stage banter. Though they performed a terrific rendition of Adele’s Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” which ignited great energy in the room, the overall vibe was mellow and even-kneeled. It’s the kind of music that you play while reading the Sunday paper, or that you put on while driving around Nashville or Austin, all of which makes the music of I’m With Her better heard than seen.

If the band were to add in some non-musical moments of humor, or an interesting story or two (they did give us one story about being stuck in a snow storm, which was entertaining), or work to build a connection with the audience, there would be more of an arc to the live show. The musicians seem to merely let their work speak for them—perhaps they are all a tad shy—which doesn’t give the performance the kind of emotional range that can stimulate or elate a crowd. The songs are lovely and sweet, and the lyrics are considerate, but this performance was missing a sense of surprise or drama.

Then again, maybe in this political day and age, that’s a good thing.