One of the things that is a mixed bag about writing the Weekender column is that I have to look into all of the concerts that are going to be in town. Some weeks, this consist of nothing but jam bands and punk-pop bands (I have a straight up beef with jam bands. I’ll write about one from time to time to keep people happy, but I can’t listen to it. My mind automatically goes into anger mode). Other weeks, you’ll get surprised by something you thought would be terrible but actually amazing. This is what happened with me and Pieta Brown.

When I decided to write about her, I found a video of her on Wisconsin Public Television. Her music was emotional and stirring. While she is a singer-songwriter, her music reaches outside of the confines of that title as it mixes genres and allows for her voice to shine through strong. Unfortunately for me, I was too broke to see her that weekend, but I had made a mental note that I would, eventually, see her play a concert in Iowa City, especially as she plays her frequently.

While I was biking home one day past the Englert, I remembered this personal pledge and got a ticket to see her during the Englert’s 99th Anniversary weekend before it sold out. It was, probably, one of the better decisions that I’ve made in recent memory.

The show started off with Alexis Stevens. A friend of Mission Creek and a generally classy lady, Stevens worked a couple of new songs into her standard set. The new songs were really good, and the old songs were gussied up with the presence of a bassist and a lap steel guitar player. A note to anyone who wants to get anything out of me: just play a steel guitar while doing it. Seriously. You could ask me to kill your mother, and I would, at least, contemplate it if you did it while playing “Sleepwalk”. That aside, Stevens’s standards were definitely benefited by the presence of the extra instrumentation. It allowed the emotions of the songs to play out better and was a nice touch for such an important concert.

After a solid intro set, Pieta Brown took the stage with her frequent collaborator Bo Ramsey. I love the combination of these two together on stage. Aside from the fact that both of them had killer style, they have a very dynamic, engaging interplay. Brown is the leader, playing the chords and singing her songs. Ramsey’s guitar style snakes through her songs, adding detail when needed and reinforcing the country spirit of her new songs from Mercury. As I watched the two of them play off of each other, I was constantly reminded of another mixed gender music collaboration: PJ Harvey and John Parish. They’ve played with each other so much that they know what the others going to do. They are completely dialed into one another, and it’s always exciting to see artists working like that.

The thing that made the show incredible was not the excellent musicianship, the beautifully sad songs that Brown had written for her new album or anything relating to the music; it was Brown herself. She was remarkably sweet and warm. Her personality came through when she would tell us stories about growing up in Iowa City and her sheer humility when dealing with fans and other musicians. At the end of the day, she came across as if she was the luckiest woman on the face of the planet because she gets to see people she grew up loving and lives her dream of writing music. At a point, it felt like we were in her living room rather than the stage of the Englert because she created such a connection with the audience.

When it was all over, I didn’t want it to be over as she had pretty much charmed the pants off of everyone in the room with her music and her personality. As I rode home listening to The Fall (when “Repetition” gets in your head, you can’t do anything about it), I knew that I wouldn’t forget this show any time soon. I also knew that Pieta Brown was the artist that I always wanted her to be: charming, engaging, and immensely talented. Whenever she appears around town again, I will do my best to make sure that I’m there.