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Welch, Rawlings crash a couple of Rilo Kiley shows

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Wondering what Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have been up to lately? Us too; it's now been a rather alarming five years since their last record, Soul Journey, was released in June 2003.

They've toured off-and-on during that stretch, occasionally unveiling new numbers from what would presumably be their next album. At least one of those, "Throw Me A Rope", has already taken its deserved place among the duo's classics, even without having been released yet. They've been playing it at least since 2004, when it appeared on an Austin City Limits episode:

Sometime around 2005 they did release a digital-only single (available on eMusic and elsewhere) featuring their resplendent cover of Radiohead's "Black Star" (from a 2004 live show in Minneapolis). But in terms of a new record of Welch/Rawlings originals, well, we're still waiting.

Events of this past weekend might suggest they're pretty close to being ready, though. Saturday night, they turned up unannounced in the middle slot of a bill at the Ram's Head in Annapolis, Maryland, featuring headliner Rilo Kiley and opener Thao With The Get Down Stay Down. Welch and Rawlings played half a dozen new songs, explaining that they were working on a new record and wanted to try out some new material on the audience. The following night, they repeated the stealth-act on the same bill at Toad's Place in Richmond, Virginia, where some enterprising camera-carrier took this video (of marginal sound quality but solid documentary value):

We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything about an actual completed album and release date.

AN UPDATE: Apparently Welch & Rawlings also turned up at Rilo Kiley's show in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday evening (June 11), and joined Rilo Kiley leader Jenny Lewis for a cover of the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks chestnut "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".

Posted by peter on June 11, 2008 12:54 PM | Permalink