I've been aware of the general outlines of her story for a while, but I've learned more recently. It was probaby around 2000 when WXPN started playing "Crocodile Man" by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer a lot, and I thought it was a very catchy tune. I heard later that he had died suddenly. I thought it was a shame, as it seemed he died just as they were starting to hit it big - and then I didn't give it any more thought.
When I saw last year that she was going to be at the folk fest, I did some Googling, and learned a very sad story. She and Dave Carter were life partners as well as a musical duo. He died, just shy of age 50, of a massive heart attack, in her arms. She has continued recording and performing his songs. (She tells the story here.)
We had a very pleasant evening at the Burlap and Bean. I had never been there, but it was everything Darling Wife said - an intimate coffee shop with comfy couches and plush chairs, as well as tables and a small stage area. They serve all kinds of fresh food and hot and cold drinks. The sound was great, and we were as close as if she'd been playing in our living room.
It was just her and her acoustic guitar, and it was both a sweet and a sad evening. She calls herself a storyteller in addition to a musican, and she interspersed stories of Dave Carter, and how they met, and how their musical and life partnership developed. It was very sweet and poignant and heartfelt - but I also couldn't stop thinking how hard that had to be, to re-live those memories and experience those emotions again every night in front of an audience.
One irony is that she said Dave Carter's explicit plan was for him to stay home and write songs, and for her to go out and perform them. And that's what's happened - he's no longer around, but she's made it her mission to perform his songs and keep his memory alive.
Ignoring for a moment the backstory and the emotions, his songs are worth singing, and it was a night of great music. Tracy's guitar playng isn't complicated, but I love her sense of timing, and how she makes her guitar almost a percussion instrument. She really comes down hard with the right hand, snapping her wrist on the downbeat.
Here are a couple of Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer songs:
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