Willi Carlisle is an entertainer who works hard and puts himself out there to offer encouragement and support through the strangeness of life. And he does it by injecting his own brand of strangeness into traditional folk music. One might wonder if he’s a throwback to times of old, or a cutting-edge troubadour leading the charge. Luckily, both things can be true at the same time, and it really doesn’t matter anyway. He’s bringing people out by speaking to them in real ways, enveloping the good and the bad, the difficult and the sacred and bringing it under his heart’s big tent. He’s a passionate performer and even his most quirky songs are upheld by witty, poignant lyricism.
All of this was on display at Portland, Oregon’s Aladdin Theater on Tuesday, October 28th when Carlisle set up shop and set out to delight Portland’s many outcasts and dreamers and lovers of enthusiastic, heartfelt entertainment.
Touring in support of his latest release, Winged Victory, Carlisle brought along a cast of characters to help bring his tales to life. Sophie Mae Wellington played lots of fiddle and did plenty of percussive dancing while Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose kept himself busy with an assortment of stringed instruments. Road manager Marshall Tinnermeier played a bit of saxophone and assisted head puppeteer Colleen with the supportive theatrics.
Carlisle played many of the songs from Winged Victory, several selections from 2022’s Peculiar, Missouri, and the title track to 2024 album Critterland. There were a number of covers as well, some of which are included on Winged Victory, such as Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing,” Mark Ross’s “Old Bill Pickett,” and Patrick Haggerty’s “Cocksucking Tears,” complete with corresponding anatomical puppetry. The stories he told and the songs enraptured the audience and led to the a big closing singalong of “Your Heart’s a Big Tent” from the Peculiar, Missouri album. The encore featured Carlisle by himself leading another singalong from that album, “I Won’t Be Afraid.” The world is lucky that Carlisle is not afraid to offer his unique band of folk music to who’ll stop and listen to a few beautifully weird stories.
Carlisle is touring down the West Coast, then east across the southern U.S., with dates through November.
