Bill O Writes

Last night’s Christmas Cavalcade for the Homeless was a smashing success. This is an event I’ve wanted to go to since it began, but always managed to be out of town or tied up with some inextricable family commitment (there ya go, family getting in the way of debauched fun).

Highlights: How about the Ticks covering the Chipmunks’ Christmas song? Or Rikki Bates turning into Elvis? Or Cape Cod legend Rock King getting two standing ovations? The Incredible Casuals turned “Summertime” into “Christmastime,” Bruce McLean made a holiday song out of the Flintstones theme song, and Greg Greenway reworked the Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” into “Santa Killer,” a song about the kid who wrecked the myth. A new band, the Flakes, rocked the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight)” and Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and made an instant fan out of me; can’t wait to see a full set by that band. Steve Wood of the Greenheads played slide guitar using his tie … now that’s something you don’t see every day.

And all that’s not to slight the other performers: the Chandler Travis Philharmonic, Crabgrass, Sarah Burrill, Stephen Russell, Toast and Jam, the Shook Fambly Singers, the Athol Thingerth, Randy and the Oak Trees, the Rip-It-Ups and the Spampinato Brothers. (Apologies if I missed anyone.)

But some nights there’s a moment when you get a chill during a performance and that helps make the night extra special. For me it happened last night when Monica Rizzio of Tripping Lily was singing “Santa Will Find You,” the band’s contribution to the recently released “A Christmas Miracle” compilation. A beautiful rendition of Mindy Smith’s song, which is on its way to being a Christmas classic.

Thanks to Chris Blood for the excellent sound, Chandler Travis for pulling the whole shindig together, Greg Waagner and all the staff at the Jailhouse Tavern … and all the bands who helped turn this into a successful fundraiser for the NOAH Shelter for the Homeless. See ya next year … no matter what the family’s doing.

One of the challenges for musicians who like to draw from their own lives for material is writing songs that share personal details but still convey universal emotions. Julie Clark is a master of that tricky art.

Her second CD of acoustic pop, “Change Your Mind,” is one of the year’s best, and as I learned at her concert last night at the Art House in Provincetown, she’s just as good delivering her songs in person as she is on CD. Right from the start, Clark demonstrated a type of low-key self-assurance that can be summed up in one word: charisma.

Perhaps Clark got a big boost of confidence when one of her new songs, “Courage of Our Convictions,” was chosen as the theme song for the National Equality March a week ago in Washington, D.C. She’s also overcome some major self-esteem issues, something she addresses in “If It Weren’t for That” and “Change Your Mind” (“Did you know I used to be twice the size I am currently?” goes one line). It all adds to a confidence that allows her to deliver songs with inspirational lyrics without becoming sappy or preaching.

Clark opened the show with a pair of covers. She kicked things off with Julie Miller’s “I Need You,” which had a swampy folk sound, thanks to some slide guitar by Larry Berwald, who played a key supporting role in the show. Next up was Kasey Chambers’ “A Million Tears.” Released on her 2002 CD, “Barricades & Brickwalls,” it’s one of my favorite songs of the decade, yet it took me a solid minute to recognize it, because Clark’s voice is so different from Chambers’ (Clark’s voice at times recalls Alanis Morisette’s or Kris Delmhorst’s).

Most of the other 10 songs were Clark’s originals, including “Dangerous,” which addresses an attraction to someone you know is bad news, and “Your Wings” (“I’ve written two songs about my mom, and this is the one she likes,” said Clark). One of the highlights was “Growin’ Up,” in which she tells about the ups and downs of growing up with an older brother. It’s a prime example of how the specifics might not match everyone’s experience, but the feelings she conveys certainly do.

Based in Norfolk, Va., Clark is building a solid reputation, winning, among other things, a first place award in the Great American Song Contest and the award for best audience response at the Cornucopia Music Festival. Based on last night’s performance, I’d expect she’ll be winning plenty more awards in the future.

I could call it a grand slam, but since Kathleen Edwards is from Ottawa and refers to hockey in at least two of her songs, I’ll label last night’s show at the Wellfleet Beachcomber a hat trick.

From a sweet version of Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” to “When Will I Be Loved” (a hit for the Everly Brothers and Linda Ronstadt) to a show-closing cover of the Outfield’s “Your Love” (click here for video of Edwards performing it earlier this year), she showed impressive range. She also tossed in the opening licks of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” (wish she’d played the whole song) just for laughs.

My favorite cover, though, was her solo take on “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” a hit in 1968 for Jeannie C. Riley. Edwards was chatting about some funny beer she’d seen at the bar. “P.B.I.?” Someone helpfully shouted out, “P.B.R.” Edwards continued to try to guess: “D.U.I.? No, it was Harpoon I.P.A.” Which, she said, reminded her of “Harper Valley P.T.A.” She couldn’t quite remember all the lyrics, but watching her joy as she was winging it was a blast.

In fact, Edwards’ energy was part of what made the show so great. Her three studio CDs are solid efforts, but Edwards shines on stage. She’s written some clever songs and she clearly loves sharing them. Her strength, her vulnerability and her sense of humor were on full display. Edwards is a great entertainer who seems bound for much bigger stages.

She started the show with “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like” (luckily for us there’s at least one station around here that plays her songs). Edwards records for Rounder Records, the home of many a folk-rocker, but she leans a lot more toward the rock end of things. “Back to Me” is as potent as Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream,” and when Edwards and her band stretched out some other songs, they sounded like a combination of the Cowboy Junkies and Crazy Horse. Throw in a little bit of Nashville twang on some songs and some Louisiana swamp vibe on others, and you’ve got the recipe for what’s likely to be the best concert I’ll see this year