This summer, the Lowell Summer Music Series presented a few new types of shows for us. One of them, a slate of three singer-songwriters, was held on another glorious evening last month. Heather Maloney, Adam Ezra, and Ben Taylor were the musicians we saw.

Ben Taylor

Heather Maloney

Adam Ezra

The show consisted of 45 minute sets from Heather and Adam, and 75 minutes from Ben. Adam was first to the stage.

Adam was first to the stage; rather than doing a solo set, he brought a couple of his band members – Turtle on percussion and Corinna Smith on fiddle – with him.

Corinna Smith

Turtle

One thing was obvious from the first notes – they were there to have fun and ensure that we enjoyed ourselves too. They succeeded in both respects. One look at their faces in these photos proves that.

Adam and Corinna

Their set rocked much more than I expected; of course, I was expecting Adam to perform solo so I should just push any expectations I had out of my mind. This was, however, an acoustic set.

Adam and Turtle

Adam more or less rapped one number that was very personal and the audience loved it. I would remember more about it had I written this review four weeks ago (or taken some notes). He told us that it is something he does at most if not all of his shows, and it worked.

Turtle drumming on Adam’s guitar

After a short set break, Heather took the stage. She found it a little hard to follow Adam’s rocking set with her more mellow music, but I think the audience showed her some love.

Heather

I saw Heather perform with Darlingside and was excited to see her perform her own music because I heard that she’s fantastic. I loved her! One of the songs she performed, ‘Flutter’, is beautiful and was requested by the crowd when I saw her at the Green River Festival. I was very happy to hear her perform it now that I knew how good a song it is.

Heather

One of the highlights of her set was Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ which Heather has recorded with Darlingside. What a gorgeous rendition of a classic song from my youth; it brought chills to my spine and a tear to my eye.

Heather

After another short break, Ben took the stage. I was not at all familiar with his music before the show, and I enjoyed what I heard.

Ben

Son of James Taylor and Carly Simon (a fact that he tried to hide), he has a sound more reminiscent of his father’s sound than his mother’s. That said, he is his own person and I do not want to make any comparisons.

Ben

In the middle of his set, he did a mash-up of ‘Fire and Rain’ and ‘You’re So Vain’ which I loved! Here’s a link to the mash-up recorded at a different show. Unfortunately he had some technical difficulties with the computers and could not perform another number in that manner.

Ben

After the show, a friend asked if I thought Ben was either incredibly intelligent or a bit depressed. I thought about it and decided maybe a little of both. His lyrics and banter betray a thoughtful intelligence that I hope the audience appreciated.

Ben

This show may not have been successful financially, but I like the concept of drawing from three artists’ fan bases and introducing the fans of one act to someone new. I hope next year brings at least one more of these shows.