“A good songwriter tries to take you through the gamut of feeling,” Amber Hargett told the audience at her 2023 Tiny Stacks performance at the Kettering-Moraine Library. The singer did just that, with ten songs exploring love, loss, and her family history.
Amber started the set with “Broke” from her debut 2019 record, Paper Trail, an upbeat country swinger about finding joy in the midst of material poverty. Solo breaks in the next two songs, “Carolina Blue” and “Stay,” also from Paper Trails, gave lead guitarist Rich Reuter a chance to flex his chops. Before launching into the title track from her latest record, Coal Mine Canary (2023), Amber explained the symbolism of the album’s name.
“Canaries were sent down into the coal mine to serve as a warning sign for the oxygen level. If the gentlemen who were working down there noticed that the canary was no longer singing, something was wrong and it was a warning sign to get out. I was struck by the idea of having a warning signal that we don't always pay attention to.”
The image of the canary reflects Amber’s personal background; her family hails from a Kentucky coal mining town where canaries were once used in mines. Yet the metaphor also captures what she accomplishes artistically on songs like “The Baker’s Wife,” which tells the story of her grandparent’s romance, and “Somebody Loves You,” the closing song of the concert. Amber told the audience that “Somebody Loves You” was written as a posthumous letter to her uncle after his suicide. The song begins with an atmospheric swell as Chris Corn bows his electric bass, and grows into a powerful expression of love for those experiencing hidden suffering.
Set List:
- “Broke”
- “Carolina Blue”
- “Stay”
- “Coal Mine Canary”
- “Ghost”
- “The Baker’s Wife”
- “Master of the Art”
- “Good Enough”
- “Five Feet Under”
- “Somebody Loves You”
Personnel:
- Amber Hargett - Lead vocals, acoustic guitar
- Rich Reuter - Lead guitar, backup vocals
- Chris Corn - Electric bass
- Kyle Sweeney - Drums
Amber Hargett's Coal Mine Canary is available for purchase on Bandcamp, or for digital streaming. For information about her upcoming shows and releases, follow her on Facebook.
Tiny Stacks is a collaboration of The Dayton Metro Library, WYSO, and the International College of broadcasting with the support from Friends of the Dayton Metro Library.
