A few weeks back, (the evening of Easter Sunday 2023 to be exact) I had the absolute pleasure of attending a house concert where Lynne Hanson performed. Weeds (seen/heard here) was one of the tracks she played that night. It’s a great song about being your own person. The concert was a wonderful event, and I highly encourage you to go see her if she happens to be in your neighborhood or anywhere close to you.

A gifted songwriter, Lynne Hanson also has a wry wit that she inserts into many of her songs. She would glance out into the small audience with a half-smile while she sang and I laughed out loud a couple of times. Her guitar work is stellar too. Speaking of guitars, Blair Michael Hogan, who accompanied her on the Telecaster was spot on. Not only did he add texture but he did so with a careful balance that never outshined Lynne’s songs or her voice. That’s a skill that is extraordinarily difficult with a Telecaster, an instrument that is used to being the star of the show.

Lyrically, the songs were folk stories, some true, and some made up. They had a wide range of subjects, from those involving murder (Lynne has an entire LP worth of murder songs where women are the perpetrators called 7 Deadly Spins), audience participation (really just one called Shadowland), and much more.  Both musicians were open and welcoming to the small audience and performed like it was 1000 people. While most of the music was a fun romp or had subtle humor injected, there were serious songs too, such as Orion’s Belt, a touching story of loss.

Pictured above is Ice Cream In November (April 2022) Lynn’s most recent LP which is full of great songs, some of which were already mentioned above. Just Words is a book of poems, and if you check out her discography, you’ll find an LP with the same name. The poetry book includes three sections: Poems, Haiku, and Lyrics, which line up with the songs on the Just Words LP. 7 Deadly Spins was released on Halloween 2015, which I’m sure was intentional. 

Lynne Hanson’s discography dates back to at least 2006, with the release of Things I Miss. She’s put out seven LPs in the years since, and each one is great! 

You can find more information on Lynne Hanson by heading up to her nicely configured website. Included are all of the streaming and social links imaginable, show dates and locations, videos, music links, a press kit with a nice biography, a store link, and a link to her Patreon as well. 

The performance of Weeds was just one month prior to the house concert in Nebraska that Vodka was attending.  

Check out Lynne Hanson now! Pick up her music from her website’s store or if you are a digital-only sort, the links to her Bandcamp.com and Apple Music stores are on the website too. More importantly, if she is anywhere close to you, make it a point to go see her in concert. You won’t be sorry!