REVIEW – Tom Paxton and the Don Juans at The Eighth Step, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024
We won’t see his like again: troubadour Tom Paxton sang farewell Friday at Caffe Lena and Saturday at the Eighth Step.
He and Bob Dylan may be the last 1960s folk giants still standing, but Paxton announced he’s retiring next spring.
Things only turned sad as Paxton noted this Eighth Step show would be “the last;” on average, he’d played the place every two years since 1988. Before that valedictory moment and a departure-less encore, Paxton recalled the tunes that made him an enduring musical and moral voice and hailed mentors and inspirations who inspired him to become one himself.
Tom Paxton, center, with Don Juans: Don Henry, left, and John Vezner
Recruiting younger singer-songwriters Don Juans arguably extended Paxton’s spotlight time. The duo – Don Henry and Jon Vezner – opened for Paxton and accompanied him Saturday.
When I asked Henry about their not playing “Schenectady,” afterward at the merch table, Henry replied that they concentrated on “Tom’s tunes” as much as possible; wondrously durable tunes.
The Don Juans: Don Henry, left, and Jon Vezner
First however, the Don Juans poked fun at their opening-act anonymity, singing “You might not know who we are.” They introduced their new album “We Used to Write Horses” with its title track ballad and celebrated their multi-award-winning tender enduring-love song “Where’ve You Been.” A writing team for 35 years, they’ve become a smooth, versatile performing duo. Vezner sat at a keyboard but also played guitar while Henry played guitar and ukulele, but a uke with special effects. Adding reverb brought interesting presence, as did Verner’s accordion and flutes effects at his keyboard.
Paxton came on after those three songs, toting a carbon fiber six-string, an easy, low-pressure voice and a deep bag of well-loved songs.
He promised he’d avoid political songs, to skeptical laughter, and started “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound” in his still-sturdy baritone before Henry and Vezner added harmonies. He then belied his apolitical aim quickly, affirming the separation of church and state to introduce “If The Poor Don’t Matter” and evoking Earth Day spirit in “Whose Garden Was This” – all three at typically relaxed tempos that let the words go deep.
“Old Friends” felt both nostalgic and angrily anti-war, decrying Vietnam’s damage to a returning vet. Similar ambivalence powered “I Don’t Love You; I Never Did (And I Guess I Always Will),” sounding both vintage in its folkie irony and over-candid. (He wrote it with the Don Juans via Zoom during peak COVID.)
They closed the first set with the vintage, straightforward “Bottle of Wine,” Paxton promising to expound on this in the second set.
The three emerged together after the break and, sure enough, Paxton traced “Bottle of Wine” back to his hero, Mississippi John Hurt whom he’d first heard at the ’63 Newport Folk Festival, then saw often at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village. He interjected Hurt songs “Creole Belle” and “Candy Man” in tribute.
They jumped from deep past toward more recent past in fresh co-written tunes. The wistful slow waltz “Eleanor’s Song” featured fine harmonies and synthesized flutes. Introducing “Dreams and Things,” a duo number In a similar mood, Henry noted he and Vezner had co-written it overnight; they sang it beautifully together. Here, Henry added airy reverb to his ukulele for a serene effect. Paxton then rejoined in the reassuring “Everything Will Be OK,” explaining he’d written it in post-show insomnia and inviting a soft singalong.
They closed with Paxton classics, mostly. He reclaimed the playful well-loved singalong “Marvelous Toy” from Peter, Paul and Mary’s hit, lamented environmental damage in “After the Storm” (a newer co-write with the Don Juans); then uncorked the sweet early 60s love-song “The Last Thing On My Mind” and “Ramblin’ Boy.” He dedicated this to Woody Guthrie (whom Paxton never met) and Pete Seeger whose Weavers sang it at Carnegie Hall for a live recording.
Here followed Paxton’s poignant farewell moment, a departure-less encore, as the three stood to SRO applause.
The elegiac “That Was Rosie” was a near echo to the poignancy of “Where’ve You Been?” and the slow, tight harmony of “Dream On, Sweet Dreamer” offered a compelling farewell.
Afterward, Eighth Step Executive Artistic Director Margie Rosenkranz confessed her sadness at this last Tom Paxton show here. He’d embraced her on leaving the stage. She cheerfully noted, however, that the retiring-from-touring troubadour was still writing songs with co-writers including the Don Juans. Saturday’s farewell show proved how fertile that particular partnership has become.
Now folk fans can expect songs from Paxton, just not sung by him here again.
Hoke's Jukebox 