Last weekend marked Lyle Lovett‘s third appearance at the Lowell Summer Music Series – twice with his Large Band and once with his smaller Acoustic Group. The Large Band graced the stage at Boarding House Park for this show.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

I will take Lyle any way I can – he has incredible stage presence and (at least at his Lowell shows) obviously loves what he is doing. Overall, though, I prefer the Large Band because of the depth and range of the instrumentality. 

Before the show, a group of us were discussing the kind of music we would hear that night, and I realized that Lyle’s genre – to this writer, at least – is country meets big band. Many people think of him as a country musician, which is only partly accurate. He transcends genres and is a joy to behold.

Lyle Lovett

Lyle is an excellent songwriter, as is evident in ‘That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)’, ‘She’s No Lady’, ‘Cute as a Bug’, and ‘North Dakota’, all of which were included in the evening’s two-and-a-half hour set.

Russ Kunkel

A very special guest is touring with Lyle this year – Francine Reed! She has toured on and off with Lyle since the 1980s, and I was glad to finally see her perform with him. Mostly singing back up but delivering fabulous harmonies with Lyle and the others who sang back up, she provided lead vocals on ‘Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues’ and received a standing ovation for it.

Francine Reed

Lyle has surrounded himself with amazing musicians: Luke Bulla on fiddle, Keith Sewell on guitar and mandolin, Russ Kunkel on drums, Viktor Krauss (who I did not realize is Alison’s brother) on bass, John Hagen on cello, and the Muscle Shoals Horns (Harrison Calloway on trumpet, Harvey Thompson on saxophone, Charles Rose on trombone, and Ronnie Eades on saxophone). I am unsure of the names of the keyboardist, pedal steel player and guitarist – sorry!

Muscle Shoals Horns

Viktor Krauss

John Hagen, Keith Sewell and the Guitarist with the Muscle Shoals Horns

Luke Bulla

Pedal Steel Player

There was a young – eight years old – fan in the front row who caught Lyle’s attention. I knew from talking with her father earlier in the afternoon that it was her third Lyle show! A musician will endear him/herself to me when they engage a child in the audience, and Lyle is no exception. She will always remember this show.

Lyle

It was a gorgeous night under the stars. Lyle referenced his last show in Lowell when the audience looked like drowned rats and told us we looked as good then as we did this night!

Francine and the Guitarist

This band delivers some of the best performances I have seen. Their love for the music mixed with their love of performing that music is what makes fans such as me return to see them.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

Note that ‘professional’ cameras were not allowed at this show so my photos are not up to my usual standard.