REVIEW: Sawyer-Toga at Caffe Lena!
05/23 @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs
Photos by Elissa Ebersold
“Sawyer Fredericks showcased his ability to do a little bit of everything. He can put some hair on your chest with gritty blues complete with gruff yet polished vocals, then seamlessly dial it back to some low key folk ditties you’d be right at home humming along to on your porch all summer long.”
Caffè Lena has a special relationship with the musicians who pass through its halls, many of whom have cut their teeth at the venue’s renowned Monday open mic that has produced an impressively extensive list of prolific local songwriters. There’s a special vibe when those who have moved up the ladder to become working musicians return to the space, reminiscent of a prodigal child returning home. Taking the stage on Saturday evening for night two of what many affectionately referred to as “Sawyer-toga Weekend,” Sawyer Fredericks ruminated on this and declared the venue his home away from home. After all, it was one of the places where he himself forged his identity as an artist after playing his first gig there when booked by Sarah Craig at age 14.
In front of a second consecutive capacity crowd, Fredericks launched into an intimate set accompanied by Ellis Piper on violin and banjo. The tone was set for a warm and inviting atmosphere early on with some comfortable conversation. Sawyer realized in between the first two songs that he had left his foot tambourine behind in the green room, so as Ellis went to retrieve it, he shared the story behind his song “Lonely Bear.” The tune, he explained, is about the perils of always wanting to be the one to carry others while never accepting help for yourself. Through the rest of the evening there was plenty of friendly banter, like when he playfully warned the crowd “I’m gonna start growling at you now” before transitioning into some blues-folk on “Flowers for You” or when he quipped “A proper, happy song; I don’t write many of those,” in reference to “Sounds of Home,” the first of several unreleased songs to grace the set.
It wasn’t all quips and cheeky one-liners, though. Sawyer is remarkably unafraid to be socially conscious when it comes to songs like “Call It Good,” delivering nuanced insight on fast fashion, food waste, and the general culture of the disposable society we often find ourselves in. The pair wrapped up set one with “Man of Constant Sorrow,” Sawyer’s “blind audition” song from his winning run on The Voice in 2015 (which he told the audience he learned from the modern cinema masterpiece O Brother, Where Art Thou?).
After a brief intermission, Sawyer returned for his second set of the evening to an enthusiastic response. “Don’t get carried away,” he humbly joked while throwing up his hands. With that, he performed a solo rendition of “A Full Life” putting his full bag of guitar tricks on display, shredding in a way you don’t expect to see at a folk show. Ellis Piper joined him once more after that blistering start, and Sawyer transitioned to acoustic bass for a handful of songs starting with “Mother.” A bluesy environmental ballad imploring us to be kinder to mother earth, he began by settling in on some slide bass (yes, you read that right!) resulting in a rumbly, powerful tone that elicited an exclamation of “DUDE!” from one mind-blown spectator. He continued not to mince words, delivering a poignant assessment of the current housing market and the younger generations’ place in it on “Funeral Parking Only.”
The second set continued on with more unreleased songs, from a showcase of vulnerability on “Growing Pains” delving into hiding your struggles from those who would help you to the simmering rage of “They Kill Me In the Morning” which hits on the challenges presented by the era of doomscrolling. He and Ellis closed out the main set with his version of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” which he released officially in 2021; that prompted a standing ovation which demanded an encore, leading him to tease “I just might release this one eventually, too” before delivering a poignant and resonant performance of Leonord Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (also, of course, made famous by Jeff Buckley).
Throughout the set, Sawyer Fredericks showcased his ability to do a little bit of everything. He can put some hair on your chest with gritty blues complete with gruff yet polished vocals, then seamlessly dial it back to some low key folk ditties you’d be right at home humming along to on your porch all summer long. He sings with power, character, and unbridled emotion to go along with some of the cleanest percussive finger-picking technique you’ll see on guitar. His stage presence is warm, genuine, and he’s able to give it to you straight, calling it like he sees it with lyrics that touch on some of the most relevant issues of our time. Several times throughout the evening, he makes me think to myself: “Hang up your guitar, there’s no use,” in the best way possible. That always makes me laugh to experience as an artist and performer. Sometimes, someone is just that damned good.
