Opening for a legacy act like Nitty Gritty Dirt Band comes with a built-in challenge. The crowd isn’t there for you, and they’re not shy about it. Meels didn’t shy away from that challenge.
The Northern California folk artist, who calls her sound “critter country,” (check out our interview with Meels here) took the stage at Plymouth’s Memorial Hall on Thursday with just a guitarist alongside her, a stripped-down setup compared to the fuller band sound of her recent EP “Across the Raccoon Strait.” She rotated between guitar and banjo throughout the set, and the intimacy of the two-piece arrangement suited her well. Meels writes music that feels like it belongs around a campfire or under open sky, and too much production live might have gotten in the way of that.
The set drew from the new EP, including “Willow” and “The Wizard,” a song she has spoken openly about writing as a way to process her lifelong struggles with OCD, making something difficult feel, in her words, “fun and digestible.” An unreleased track, “Company of Strangers,” slotted in as well, showing that despite having just released an EP, she’s not slowing down anytime soon. The set closed on “Out West,” the EP’s opening track, a song she remarked was rooted in the longing for her Northern California home that drove much of the record’s writing.
The covers were well chosen. A Dolly Parton track and a quietly powerful take on John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” fit naturally into her wheelhouse, but it was a cover of The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down” that brought the whole room in a singalong moment that won over a crowd that wasn’t familiar with Meels coming into the venue.
When Nitty Gritty Dirt Band returned for their encores and brought Meels back out with them, the crowd welcomed her like they’d been fans all along. She certainly gained a few new ones this evening.
Get tickets to see Meels live here.
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.