Concert Review: Jill Phillips & Andy Gullahorn

Afternoon concerts are new to Andy Gullahorn. At least, that’s what he shrugged his shoulders about when it came to the mid-afternoon show that he and singer/songwriter wife Jill Phillips put on in the Indianapolis area at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. The show was part of a free afternoon concert series the church puts on for the community every couple months, usually bringing in a orchestral arrangement of some type.

Yet for the 80 or so gathered on March 22, 2009, the acoustic gems found on Jill Phillips six studio efforts was the surprisingly moving material on display. I say surprisingly because, let’s face it, 3:00pm on Sunday afternoons are made for falling asleep to football games or, in this case, March Madness. But my wife and I are longtime fans of Jill’s (and Andy’s) music so this was a no-brainer. It was an unlikely atmosphere for anything more than a fun little show. Yet I found myself drawn into the heart and life of tunes I was already well-acquainted with.

Just two singers with two acoustics who only had 45 minutes to work with – one fifth of their travel time one way. And they left their heart on the stage. Jill and Andy exchanged several personal, honest and funny quips from the stage as they discussed their fears, the death of her father and life with three young children. The audience learned how they met (as students at Nashville’s Belmont University), Andy’s early clothing choices (Garth Brooks’ wear) and how they create art out of difficult and painful moments. And it’s with this banter the songs found a deeper place to take root, in the soil of personal experience that the audience could easily relate with.

“Grand Design” was a real highlight, dealing with the unexpected passing of Jill’s father and becoming a song that can speak to such an affecting scenario without becoming trite or too Christian-y. It was truly a tender moment. Another such time came with Andy’s own song, “Give It Time,” from his fantastic album, Reinventing the Wheel. The explanation of writing to encourage his sister to give her marriage another chance created a moment of vulnerability and you could tangibly see the couples in the crowd move closer together.

Songs spanned every album in Jill’s catalog, with two from her self-titled debut in 1999. “Steel Bars” made a re-appearance, according to Jill, after refusing to play it for a while. “I Am” also showed itself from that record. “Wrecking Ball” sounded wonderfully full with only two guitars in the live arrangement and the husband-wife harmonies sounded great. In particularly, Andy’s acoustic guitar work looked effortless but was actually quite mesmerizing to watch.

Seems funny to drive approximately 10 hours round trip for a 45 minute show in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. But the revealing, intimate moments provided in that short time gave the audience exactly what they needed – a glimpse of two strong songwriters in person and the beauty of shared experience within the kingdom of God.

• www.jillphillips.com
• www.andygullahorn.com

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