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Last night, my daughter Abby and I drove through the rainy streets of DC with great anticipation. Last night, we attended a truly unique musical experience. Last night, singer-songwriters Ben Rector and Cody Fry performed with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). It was spectacular!
Rector has been a favorite of ours for years. With his piano-driven pop music, he’s established himself as a strong, independent artist who writes songs that can make you laugh and cry in less than four minutes. He’s an artist who truly enjoys what he does and it shows in concert.
Cody Fry, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter-composer is new-ish to us. His song, “I Hear a Symphony” was a life-changing TikTok success story. He was also nominated last year for a Grammy for his creative arrangement of The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby”. With clearly a background in musical theater, Fry was a perfect addition to this show.
I can’t stress enough what an incredible experience it was, hearing songs I’ve listened to for years, being played with the addition of the amazing NSO. They added such beauty and grace to songs that we already love.
Kicking things off was a more recent song from Rector, “Dream On”. An orchestral pop song and an anthem to those who have forgotten how to dream. The song builds beautifully ending with a huge crescendo from the orchestra.
Rector pulled out some old favorites as well including “White Dress” and “Let the Good Times Roll” which he asked for (and received) some solid help from the sold-out audience. It was a great song to pick to sing along to - as we all were letting the good times roll.
Fry took the lead on a number of his tracks including the gorgeous “Photograph” - no, not the Def Leppard song. It focuses on love and the passage of time, as a man tries to live inside of a photograph.
The two highlights from Fry were the two songs I mentioned earlier - “I Hear a Symphony” (not the song by The Supremes) and his version of “Eleanor Rigby”. “Symphony” (a song that Abby knew and I didn’t) is a strange one, with three verses and zero choruses, just an orchestral melody that serves as an interlude between each verse. It’s gorgeous to hear Fry (and his vocal range) sing along with a live symphony.
“Eleanor Rigby” has always been one of those Beatles songs that I’ve secretly loved. Its complex and puzzling lyrics and song structure are a huge part of what made them so special.
Fry’s version turns the song on its head a bit. The orchestral part increases and his voice is sweeter. There’s also a showtunes-ness to the arrangement that flows beautifully off the Kennedy Center stage. It was another song that we, the audience, got to participate in.
Other favorites included the cover of Shania Twain’s “Still The One”, “30,000 Feet” and the fun, sing-along “Brand New”. They closed out the night with the stellar pick, “Sailboat”, a song about not giving up, but also not always knowing the right direction to head.
Thankfully, we knew the right directions to head last night - The Kennedy Center was the best place we could be.
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