“You may have noticed I’m playing an acoustic guitar. That means this is a folk music show.”

I’m not one to quibble, but Jeffrey Foucault’s recent show at Bellingham’s New Prospect Theatre was indeed folky, but oh, so much more. The Jeffrey Foucault Band, currently on the road in support of his newest album, The Universal Fire (Fluff and Gravy Records), showed us what happens when you get five master musicians in a room together playing at the top of their game.

Jeffrey Foucault and band, in a show that stretched nearly three hours, pushed back on the notion that folk music is merely sweet harmonies and pleasing melodies at the New Prospect Theatre in Bellingham, Washington, on Nov. 10. Foucault’s catalog stretches back to his 2001 debut, Miles from the Lightning (Rock River Records) through his latest September 2024 release, The Universal Fire.

In those 20-plus years, both in the studio and on the road, he’s created a universally admired body of work that The New Yorker describes as “stark, literate songs that are as wide open as the landscape of his native Midwest.”

Stream The Universal Fire by Jeffrey Foucault on Spotify:

The Universal Fire was birthed in tragedy, as folk music often is. Recorded live in the studio in January 2023, it is a mournful tribute to his friend and long-time drummer, Billy Conway, who died from cancer in 2021. The album’s title also recalls the 2008 fire at the Universal Studios lot that destroyed master recordings of some of our most beloved American music. No Depression said, “Foucault is working through grief but the album is also a meditation on the nature of beauty, mortality, and meaning… you will want to immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind recording.”

I arrived at the New Prospect Theatre about a half hour before showtime and immediately detected a discernible buzz as people filed in, chatting excitedly, soon filling the room to capacity. Erik Koskinen opened the show with a short but pleasing set of songs taken mainly from his latest release Down Street/Love Avenue (he’d return to play lead guitar in Foucault’s band later in the evening). A respected producer, engineer and singer-songwriter himself, Koskinen has worked with a wide range of musicians that includes Trampled by Turtles, Charlie Parr, Pieta Brown, and Foucault himself who says, “I know of few writers whose relationship to their own landscape, in this case the rural north, is so elemental, and so integral. His songs feel like weather.”

After a short break, Foucault and his companions (Foucault on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Koskinen on electric guitar, Jeremy Moses Curtis on bass, Don McAuley on drums, and Eric Heywood on pedal steel and guitar) took the stage. Opening with the title tune from the new album, the first set concentrated mostly on the new songs.

Watch a live performance of “The Universal Fire” by Jeffrey Foucault on YouTube:

Introducing “Monterey Rain,” Foucault explained the true reason for this being a folk music show, “Be prepared to hear me talk a lot.” (The joke being that folk singers have a tendency to introduce each song with a lengthy story describing its inspiration). After that set-up, he interrupted the song to provide a deadpan explanation and the perfect punchline, “I wrote this song walking around Monterey. It was raining. I call it Monterey Rain.” Giggles and laughter from the audience ensued.

Watch a performance of “Monterey Rain” by Jeffrey Foucault at the Cock n’ Bull via YouTube:

With each succeeding tune, the band seemed to grow tighter, more confident as these five craftsmen (I can’t think of a better way to describe this group of stellar musicians) produced a series of jaw dropping moments. The band eventually exited the stage leaving Jeffrey to perform a couple audience requests solo before returning to turn in a beautiful, and rocking, rendition of Dylan’s “Standin’ in the Doorway.” Although the show was scheduled to end by 9:30pm, the evening stretched well beyond 10pm. Nobody complained, though!

Despite the lack of pyrotechnics and lasers, we were mesmerized as the music swirled around Jeffrey planted at centerstage. Smiling and nodding to his bandmates, he acted as a sort of musical director, eyes closed, sensing musical ebbs and flows, leaning into the songs as their stories covered the wide-ranging musical territory where roots rock, country, and yes folk dwell.

One can draw a line, jagged but true, from Woody Guthrie through Pete Seeger and Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan, Springsteen, and John Prine that ran right to the New Prospect Theatre Sunday night. American folk music traces its influences from the blues, rock, and country. I’ve heard Neil Young introduce “Powderfinger” as a folk song and then perform it as a rock anthem. Steve Earle has made a career out of pushing folk boundaries. Some may consider Margo Price a folk/country artist, but she would be somewhat chafed, I imagine, at being pigeon-holed so narrowly. Sunday night, there was no pigeon-holing Foucault’s music either, unless, of course, we vastly expand what it means to be a folk musician.

Eric Heywood of Son Volt, Pretenders, and Jayhawks fame (and longtime Foucault friend and musical partner) said a few years back, “For me, the high points are really those nights when the music feels transcendent and effortless — when band, stage sound, and audience (or recording device) converge and you know something just happened…these are not necessarily résumé moments, but those are the highlights I wait for and appreciate.”

I don’t know if the music this night effortless-Foucault and his fellow artists were clearly putting in the work, but they also created something transcendent that we’ll all carry with us for a long time to come.

For more music, video, and tour information, please visit Jeffrey Foucault’s website.

Here are some more photos of the Jeffrey Foucault Band at the New Prospect Theatre on Nov. 10, 2024. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo.