Cayamo 2023 soars with diverse sounds

By Paul T. Mueller –

Like any established music festival, Cayamo – the festival-at-sea that just wrapped up its 15^th edition – faces the challenge of attracting new attendees while keeping returning guests interested. Sixthman, the Norwegian Cruise Line subsidiary that produces Cayamo, was up to the task this year, putting together a lineup that combined well-known veterans of the festival and less-familiar newcomers. As a bonus, the 2023 group was much more diverse than most previous years, featuring a considerable number of performers of color, a relatively large number of female artists, and a good balance of younger and older musicians. The result was, by consensus, a highly successful event, with scores of shows spanning a range of genres including folk, country, blues, bluegrass, rock, soul and others. 

Absent from the lineup were some “big names” from previous years, such as Brandi Carlile, Lyle Lovett, Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Emmylou Harris, and of course John Prine. But the cast of performers also included some familiar names, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, Paul Thorn, David Bromberg and Trampled by Turtles, among others. The full lineup can be seen here.

As always, the festival, held February 10-17 aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship, featured a full schedule with many conflicts. Here are some highlights from notable shows.

The first-day sailaway show by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
In their debut appearance on Cayamo, the veteran bluegrass/country outfit performed a fine pool deck set that was short on originals (“Fishing in the Dark,” “Ripplin’ Waters”) but long on popular covers, including Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” John Prine’s “Grandpa Was a Carpenter,” Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles,” and Rodney Crowell’s “An American Dream” (with lyrics modified to reference Cayamo). The set closed with a lively sing-along on “Jambalaya.” Front and center for much of the show was guitarist and singer Jaime Hanna, son of NGDB co-founder Jeff Hanna.

History lessons and music from Jake Blount
Blount, who said he’s planning graduate studies in musicology and ethnomusicology, began with a haunting rendition of “Stolen Souls from Africa,” a mournful lament of slavery sung a capella over a recorded synthesizer track. The rest of his set consisted mostly of traditional tunes accompanied by fiddle and banjo, with explanations that were as educational as they were entertaining. For example, he pointed out that Black culture in the Americas originated on slave ships, where captives from various African countries and cultures intermingled and developed common ground in the form of music. Blount was aboard as part of the Black Opry Revue, a touring project of Nashville’s Black Opry, a collective of Black artists involved with American roots music. 

A fine set by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty
Backed by bassist Miss Tess and pedal-steel and mandolin player Thomas Bryan Eaton, Canty performed several songs (“Heart of My Country,” “Come By the Highway Home,” “Wild Heart”) from her forthcoming album Quiet Flame. Canty charmed the audience with a bright and engaging stage presence to back up her thoughtful lyrics. Extra credit for overcoming distracting dinner-time noise from nearby bars and restaurants.

A raucous Rolling Stones tribute show
Wild and crazy folksinger Steve Poltz played emcee at this pool deck show, backed by a “house band” that included guitarists Larry Campbell and Anthony Da Costa and keyboardist John Fullbright.  Poltz kicked things off with an excellent take on “Far Away Eyes.”  A wide range of performers followed: Jazz-flavored bluegrass quartet Twisted Pine with “Dead Flowers,” Fullbright with a powerful take on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women,” teenage vocal trio The Burney Sisters with lovely renditions of “Ruby Tuesday” and “Wild Horses,” Da Costa with a wildly energetic “No Expectations,” and so on.  The show’s emotional peak came mid-set with “Gimme Shelter,” featuring all-star drummer Brady Blade on lead vocals, strutting and gyrating with, yes, moves like Jagger. Meanwhile, Campbell and Da Costa traded Stones-worthy riffs, and Teresa Williams, Campbell’s wife and musical partner, gave an all-out effort on the song’s ominous choruses that would have made original singer Merry Clayton proud. Another highlight, near show’s end, was an all-hands-on-deck singalong of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

A soul music tribute, billed as “Motown vs. Stax”
The show, on the pool deck stage following the Stones tribute, was performed by mostly younger artists for a mostly older crowd, harking back to the days when popular music was a bigger tent. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian, emcee for the event, led off with an excellent take on Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’,” followed by Adia Victoria with “Heard It Through the Grapevine.” The rest of the show was pretty much a hit parade of ’60 and ‘70s soul and R&B: Black Opry Revue performer Julie Williams with “Where Did Our Love Go?,” the Rainbow Girls quartet with “Please Mr. Postman,” Raye Zaragoza with “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” and “Captain” Shawn Mullins with “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” among others. Singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt, in the last performance before a sudden downpour ended the show, did a fine version of “I’ll Take You There,” featuring a crowd-roaming performance by trombonist Ray Mason.

“Dirt Does Dylan,” a set of Bob Dylan songs performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and guests
The band started this Stardust Theater show with a sweet rendition of “Forever Young” before moving on to such classics as “Girl From the North Country,” “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” (with Jeff Tweedy and his children), “Meet Me in the Morning” (with Amy Helm and longtime Dylan sideman Larry Campbell), “Tomorrow Is a Long Time” (with David Bromberg) and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (with emerging superstar Allison Russell). The show concluded with an emotional “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” that had much of the audience singing along, some through nostalgic tears.

The Sunday Soul Session, led by The Fairfield Four
Held on a warm and sunny pool deck stage, the show started with several a capella songs by the Nashville gospel quartet, the third iteration of the group since its founding in 1921. Other performances included “I Saw the Light,” featuring guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, singer-songwriter Amy Helm and Jeff Hanna; “Love You Anyway,” by Devon Gilfillian and his band, and “Gloryland,” performed a capella by Helm, who noted that she had also sung it with her father, the late Levon Helm of The Band.

Mary Gauthier & Friends
This Stardust Theater show was something of a career retrospective, ranging from Gauthier’s early “Drag Queens in Limousines” to “The War After the War,” from her Songwriting with Soldiers project, to the title track of her newest album, Dark Enough to See the Stars. Gauthier fully commanded the stage with stories – sometimes funny, sometimes painfully honest – about her musical journey, interspersed with her powerful songs. She got musical backing from singer-songwriter Jaimee Harris and drummer Neilson Hubbard, who also produced Dark Enough.

And so many more: Jeff Tweedy, Patty Griffin, Shovels & Rope, Paul Thorn, Wilder Woods, the Jerry Douglas Band, Joshua Radin and on and on.

Other fun moments:

• Matraca Berg’s surprise vocal appearance on “Strawberry Wine” during the “Party On, Garth” tribute to ‘90s music hosted by Kelsey Waldon. Berg, who wrote the Deana Carter hit with Gary Harrison, wasn’t given her own set in the festival, but made occasional guest appearances at other artists’ shows.
• The Burney Sisters’ sweetly harmonic take on Brandi Carlile’s “Right on Time” in the Soundcheck Showcase, which featured the three winners of the Soundcheck competition for new artists.
• Fellow Soundcheck winners Twisted Pine with their jazzy rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (Raye Zaragoza was the third Soundcheck artist.)
• Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams’ excellent Spinnaker Lounge set, closing with a fine version of “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” with guests Tommy Emmanuel and David Bromberg.
• Acoustic guitar virtuoso Yasmin Williams, making a big impression on her first Cayamo with shimmering New Age-ish tunes featuring a mix of strumming, picking and what she called flat-tapping, augmented by shoe-tap percussion and the occasional use of a small keyboard instrument called a kalimba. Williams’ mastery of her instrument was matched by her enthusiastic stage presence.
• Amy Helm’s refusal to let a broken wrist slow her down. She suffered the injury early in the cruise during a run-in with a wind-blown deck chair, but carried on, cast and all, earning big ovations later in the week.