surprise debut
The trio brought out guests like Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, and Lucinda Williams to play their forthcoming LP, Horsepower, in its entirety at the Ryman Auditorium
On Saturday night, Aug. 23, in Nashville, fans arrived to Big Thief’s show at the Ryman Auditorium prepared for a standard (but no less great) evening of songs. Instead, they were in for a pretty epic surprise: the band would be playing their new unreleased triple album, Horsepower, in its entirety, alongside some of the people who helped create it. And those people? An incredible array of Americana and roots icons including Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, and Lucinda Williams, as well as a renowned cast of players.
There were signs on the way into the venue that something was up: the curious lack of an opening act, the posters around the venue asking to refrain from phone use, the stage set with enough seats for a band three times their size, the fiddles waiting on stands. As soon as the trio of Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia, along with touring bassist Joshua Crumbly, took their seats around a mysterious wooden table — and stayed seated for almost the entire show — the audience realized something very unusual was in store.
