Planting by the Signs is the third album from Kentucky artist S.G. Goodman and her first since 2022’s masterful Southern rock noir collection Teeth Marks. Goodman is damn proud of the songs on Planting by the Signs and for good reason, as it finds her continuing to evolve her sound as she mines the depths of Southern identity in our strange, messed-up world. Goodman and her band came ready to share these new tunes with her fans when they stopped in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, September 30th for a show at the Aladdin Theater.
Fresh off releasing his own new album, Transparent Towns, Oklahoma troubadour John Calvin Abney kicked off the evening with a solo acoustic set. Accompanied by only his guitar, Abney let his lyrics shine as he performed new and old songs that veered from dark folk numbers to country-tinged fare. Each song came with a story, often about his childhood or encounters with hard times. Abney endeared himself to the audience, who were pulled into his crafty lyricism. He even invited Goodman’s band to back him for a couple of tunes to showcase them in a more electrified light.
When Goodman hit the stage with a band that also included Abney on synth and backing guitar, a larger crowd had gathered directly in front of the stage. For the next eighty minutes, the bespectacled Kentuckian regaled them a mix of mostly new songs and humorous stories that covered everything to Portland’s classification as “war ravaged” by the president and life on tour to receiving whoopings as a child. Opening with the moody and softly textured “Satellite,” Goodman gradually built up the vocals before unleashing a soaring chorus. “Fire Sign” followed with dark, urgent vocals and synths complemented by sharp guitar and a steady beat. “Snapping Turtle” continued in a similar vein with deeply personal lyrics about growing up in a small rural town brought to life with dreamy harmonies and guitar, while “Michael Told Me” and “I’m In Love” were sweet and twangy.
Longtime fans yearning for older tunes managed to get a few, with the country number “Supertramp” being a standout with its galloping beat, Abney laying down twangified guitar, and a tease of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” weaved in for good measure. Another fan favorite, the soulful swooner “Space and Time,” would appear during the encore alongside the sprawling and lyrically beautiful “Heaven Song” and a well-executed, almost outlaw country cover of the Butthole Surfers classic “Pepper.” In between, Goodman moved from the sparse instrumentation and chilling harmonies of “Planting by the Signs” to “the haunting “I Can See the Devil” and set-closing “Work Until I Die” that found the band unloading freewheeling psych-guitar freakouts in the vein of the Velvet Underground. Throughout it all, Goodman and her band charmed the fans, solidifying her status as one of the more intellectual and original voices in Americana music today.
All photos by Greg Homolka
