Midway through Caitlin Canty’s show at the New Prospect Theatre (NPT) not long ago, while thanking the sold-out crowd for coming and sitting shoulder to shoulder in the cozy listening room, she commented on the best, and worst, this country has to offer. Along with bandmates Will Seeders (pedal steel, banjo) Jeff Berlin (drums, percussion), and Jeremy Moses Curtis (bass), Caitlin showed us exactly what is the best of us.
Stopping into Bellingham for the penultimate show of a quick West coast run in support of her new album, Night Owl Envies the Mourning Dove, the evening became a warm respite, if only for a couple hours, from the daily realities outside NPT’s walls.
Stream Night Owl Envies the Mourning Dove by Caitlin Canty on Spotify:
Canty’s life has taken on new directions, and meaning, since her first record, 2004’s Running Shoes. Since then, she’s released seven albums and a slew of EPs and singles, all while touring as often as possible. And although all records consistently feature a distinctly unique songwriting approach and her warm, powerful vocals, they also chronicle life changes — moving from Nashville to Vermont, navigating a growing family, and the professional challenges of an indie-folk artist. The latest album is no exception.
In Fretboard Journal, writer Eric Pooley summarized Canty’s changes as “tumultuous and wildly productive.” Her “debut album,” Reckless Skyline (2015) saw wide critical acclaim and featured songs that still find their way into setlists today. In 2018, she released Motel Bouquet and married banjo virtuoso Noam Pikelny. The Great East Nashville Tornado in 2020 profoundly affected them yet somehow spared their home. Surviving the pandemic and welcoming a new baby topped off that tumultuous year.
In the midst of it all, though, Canty continued writing and, in 2023, released the gorgeous acoustic album, Quiet Flame, which included the masterpiece, “Heart of my Country.” Parklife DC covered her record release show in Bellingham that year, as well. 2023 also saw a relocation from Nashville to the mountains of Vermont, within spitting distance of the house where Canty grew up, and where her parents still live.
“There are a lot of before and after moments in my life and they’re embedded in these songs. Before the tornado, after the tornado. Before I had a baby, after I had a baby. When I lived in Nashville, when I lived in Vermont.” The new album chronicles those life changes, and formed the bulk of the evening’s musical dialogue.
Opening with “Dear Home” from the new album, with its plaintive refrain, “Oh, will I see my dear home again,” Canty’s vocals confidently soared over the persistent drone from her Waterloo Recording King Jumbo guitar on Jan. 29. Intentionally or not, the opener set the tone for the evening’s performance. Home, and what it means, has become an overriding theme in her life and music. After witnessing a tornado’s devastation, picking up and moving a family, and wondering why “my country does not look like the place I thought it was,” the notion of what is home continues to mystify.
Nonetheless, the NPT felt briefly like a home with family stories passed around as Canty’s generosity and wit shone through all night, her charming onstage banter bringing smiles and laughter. At one point, she remarked on the dance class occurring above the Lucas Hicks Auditorium, “I saw the ballerinas come in but they didn’t look big enough to make all that noise!” I’m sure we would have been forgiven for thinking, ‘you kids keep it down up there!’
But it was her introduction to a cover of the late Billy Conway’s “After All,” that struck the evening’s deepest chord. “Seeing the best, and worst, our country has to offer and feeling tattered and ragged, I’m grateful you all are here, sitting shoulder to shoulder with friends and strangers inside these walls.”
Watch Caitlin Canty perform “After All” live on YouTube:
From the aforementioned opener to the closer, “Electric Guitar,” the new songs were performed with easy confidence, Seeder’s pedal steel (and occasional banjo) adding a “just right” high lonesome sound while Curtis and Berlin provided a deep rhythmic pocket for Canty’s voice and guitar over which to roam. Older songs like “Motel” and “River Alone” (from Motel Bouquet) and “Get Up” (from Reckless Skyline) nested comfortably within the evening’s new tunes. The high point for many was “Heart of My Country,” a song that pleads for environmental and social justice. Released in September 2020, its meaning clearly still relevant today, the song’s lyrics spoke to many, if not all of us in attendance: “From California’s burning forests to the New York island, can you hear the chorus of voices asking, where is the heart of my country?” The encore, “Open the Window” an R&B inflected slow burner showed off Canty’s vocal power, while another Conway original, “Once is Enough” sent us home in the warm embrace of optimism, while still acknowledging the cold reality we all must eventually accept.
Watch Caitlin Canty perform “Electric Guitar” live with Matt Lorenz on YouTube:
Caitlin noted that every show on her West coast run had sold out. Perhaps that speaks to the popularity of independent folk artists, or to Canty’s devoted following, but nonetheless reflects a hunger for music that touches hearts and minds, that feels like home. Thanking the audience once more for coming out, Canty remarked that “the country needs more folk clubs!”
Indeed.
Here are some more photos of Caitlin Canty at Bellingham’s New Prospect Theatre on Jan. 29, 2026. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo.
