Yola @ 9:30 Club [DC] - 1/10/2020
Yola performing at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (photo/Mauricio Castro)
Yola Carter is having the time of her life right now. In-between jokes and stories about her past, she gave a slight nod to the fact that she is nominated for a Grammy award. With just one EP and album, the British-born Yola Carter has been nominated for Best New Artist, Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “Faraway Look,” and Best Americana Album for her Dan Auerbach-produced Walk Through Fire. She was ready to return the love back to the crowd. With a full band in tow, she gave a musical refresh to “What You Do” from her 2016 EP Orphan Offering. In addition to favorites like “Faraway Look” and “Ride Out in the Country,” she and her band performed covers of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and Aretha Franklin’s version of “You’re All I Need to Get By.”
Alongside some impressive guitar- and banjo-picking by the captivating Amythyst Kiah (who is one-fourth of Our Native Daughters and is herself nominated for Best American Roots Song alongside Yola), the 9:30 Club crowd received more than its fill of some of the best Americana music out today.
