By Eric Steiner

The Four Bitchin' Babes just wove two hours of magic at the Kirkland performance Center Northeast of Seattle. The Four Bitchin' Babes are some of the best folk musicians around: Sally Fingerett, Megon McDonough, Debi Smith and Camille West. They shine as solo artists, but together, are a constellation of harmony, piano, guitar and heartfelt songs about everyday life.

The Babes took the stage to a sold-out house and began a four-part a cappella about a common problem affecting those of us reaching a certain (read: middle) age: lost keys, misplaced purses or forgotten glasses. Since the audience was largely middle-aged, it roared with laughter. Their four-part folk and country harmonies would make fans of CSNY2K (that's Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's recent millennium tour) sit up and take notice.

Each Babe introduced herself with an original song that set the tone for an unforgettable evening of music: whether a unique take on life leavened by raising children, beating back middle age with a sense of wonder and discovery, or watching a mother's or son's hands as they grow old. Not to mention unique and emotional insights on watching children leave the nest or not exactly fitting into the fashion industry's portrait of beauty.

Christine Lavin and Patty Larkin have been Babes over the years, and The Four Bitchin' Babes are touring to support the upcoming CD, "The Babes: Beyond Bitchin," a follow-up to their 1997 "Gabby Road: Out of the Mouths of Babes." They've been headliners for ten years, and it's not only because they're babes. They are most certainly babes, though, particularly to folk fans that came of age listening to Harry Chapin, John Prine, Holly Near, or Tom Rush. More importantly, the Four Bitchin' Babes are some of finest musicians found anywhere. While the women promoting the Lillith Fair are a talented bunch in their own right, these Babes could teach the younger generation a thing or two, based on their experience.

The Four Bitchin' Babes aren't the latest fad. They have released CDs and supported tours independently of each other. As a team, though, they can't be beat.

Sally Fingerett has released four CDs on the Amerisound label. She's co-written music for movies, television and cartoons and is working on a documentary of Americans who Bar Mitzvah at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Tonight, her "Home is Where the Heart Is" touched many to tears as it told the story of how Sally explains to her daughter a relationship between her neighbors, Martin and John. "Home is Where the Heart Is" has been recorded by Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert (remember The Weavers?), and Peter, Paul and Mary. Sally's powerful grand piano shown through the ups and downs of this love song. She's no slouch on the six-string, either: as the Babes were poking fun at rock music, I swear I could hear strains of "Smoke on the Water" or some other 70's metal fist-in-the-air anthem.

Debi Smith was once a Hag, but so was Mary Chapin Carpenter. That was the name of one of Smith's early Washington, D.C., bands, and she picked up a dhoran, a hand-held Irish drum.

"I don't think Mary Chapin Carpenter mentions that on her resume, though," Debi laughed.

Smith's Celtic rhythms and powerful voice echoed off the rafters, and proved that the Babes didn't need an elaborate sound system. It was as close to acoustic as you could get as we heard what they did through the monitors onstage. When not a Babe, Smith is one-half of The Smith Sisters, who've recorded four CDs on the Flying Fish label. She's worked with Doc and Merle Watson, Mark O'Connor and folk legend Tom Paxton. She wrote "He Likes Cooking Dinner" with Paxton and this boogie brought out a Babes rhythm section straight out of the TV series within a TV series, "Tool Time," (from Tim Allen's hit series "Home Improvement."). Instead of hand tools from the construction site, the Babes kept time with Debi and Sally on saucepans, Camille on spoons, and Megon on cheesegrater. Her emotional ballad, "My Mother's Hands," leads off the Babes' 1995 CD, "Fax It! Charge It! Don't Ask Me What's For Dinner."

Megon McDonough has been a bright light in the big city Chicago music scene for over 25 years. I first saw her headline at Orphan's Pub when I was underage in the 70's, and like her folk cohorts Bonnie Koloc and John Prine, she hasn't lost a note. She's since released a handful of great CDs that showcase her crystalline voice, and starred in the Chicago productions of "Always Pasty Cline," "Pump Boys and Dinettes," and "Quilters." Tonight, Megon's "Microwave Life" showed me her wry sense of humor, and her tribute to Patsy Cline, "I Go to Pieces" rang true right back to Cline's days in country music. At the piano, she sang "Beautiful Fool" in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., and departed from the folk and country vein with a sultry "You Taught My Heart to Sing" to a taped jazz trio with a stand-up bass.

Camille West isn't a comedienne, but she sure is funny. She's been part of the Boston's Festival of Funny Songwriters and was honored at the Kennedy Center in 1996. If Carl Hiassen didn't write quirkily and darkly comic novels about Florida, or if The Capitol Steps didn't satirize politics, they'd all be writing songs like Camille West. Her anthem about thong bathing suits was drowned out by laughter ("L.A.F.F.: Ladies Against Fanny Floss"), because she wanted "swimsuits for those of us more likely seen/between the pages of Bon Appetit." "L.A.F.F." is on their 1997 CD, "Gabby Road: Out of the Mouths of Babes." Camille's "Viagra in the Waters" recalled Harry Chapin's "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" and caused more than a few women to rib their husbands, and I'd bet not in anticipation of this landing on their next CD, "The Babes: Beyond Bitchin." "Toe to Toe With the HMO" is funny because it rings true with the way America does (or doesn't do) healthcare today, which features more forms and legalese and less choice than ever. In West's eyes, it's a riot as is her teenage crush on her dentist, named Roger Wingtip.

That's what makes a Babes show special: they sing of everyday life with a twist. The twist that only experience can give, particularly from a woman's perspective in the 1990's.

I caught up with the Babes in the lobby of the Kirkland Performance Center after the show. Talking to Megon McDonough made me feel like I was 17 again, waiting in the alley behind Orphans Pub just off of North Lincoln Avenue on, as the locals say, "da Nort' side a' Chicagah." In those days, Orphans Pub was one of the many clubs that nurtured a vibrant local folk scene, which also included the Earl of Old Town, Amazing Grace Coffee House, and Butch McGuire's. Together, these clubs featured first-class folk acts like Bryan Bowers, Utah Phillips, Dave Van Ronk, the late Steve Goodman, Fred Holstein, Jim Post, and of course, Megon McDonough. Back then, I could only dream of meeting Megon, because I just knew someone would find out that I was underage and everyone would be in trouble from Chicago's finest. As the years unfolded, I was happy to see that she managed to make a living making music, whether in musical theatre, commercials or cable TV. I had even heard that The Chairman of the Board himself, Frank Sinatra, had helped her secure some gigs, but I don't know if there's any truth to that rumor. Although Orphans Pub is long gone, I clearly remember Megon belting out Dolly Parton's "Fist City," and a host of other songs about "guitar pickers and Popsicle lickers, strung out on Mickey Mouse."

I told Megon how friends snuck me into Orphans when I was underage, just so I could hear her sing and play guitar.

"That's really great," she beamed. "That was a great time and Orphans was a great club. Thanks for the memories."

No, Megon, thank you. Just like those memories, the Four Bitchin' Babes are unforgettable.


(C) 2000 - Eric Steiner