If Katie Crutchfield ever becomes a solo star, it's hard to imagine how the Waxahatchee singer's most bruised and beautiful songs will translate to a gigantic stage. Tucked into a back room at Stubb's during SXSW on March 13 — and following in the immediate aftermath of Nick Cave's swaggering star turn under the stars — Crutchfield opened her 25-minute set with a string of fragile solo songs, each more delicate than the last. This was interior music, made of guts and nerves and other viscera we don't share easily.

But then, about a third of the way through, Crutchfield showed another side: She took her odes to nervous doubt and lonely ambivalence and amped them up as the head of a killer power trio. It makes sense that Crutchfield would want to showcase both halves of her personality, given the solo-to-full-band transformation that occurred between last year's debut, American Weekend, and Waxahatchee's fine new album, Cerulean Salt. What's remarkable is the way each side — vulnerability and forcefulness — enhances the other, to moving and cathartic effect.

Set List

• "Noccalula"
• "Tangled Envisioning"
• "Coast To Coast"
• "Peace And Quiet"
• "Be Good"
• "Lively"
• "Waiting"
• "Brother Bryan"
• "American Weekend"

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Source: NPR