Puss N Boots at the Bowery Ballroom

Norah Jones' debut album in 2002 wound up winning five Grammy Awards and selling 27 million units. She was a singer/songwriter known for playing piano, but a few years after her big wins she wanted to learn to play guitar. About the same time, her friend, jazz singer Sasha Dobson, also wanted to learn to play guitar. In 2008, the two of them decided to join forces and play mostly for friends at low-key gigs in New York City venues. They recruited Catherine Popper, who had been a bassist but was eager to try out the pedal steel guitar. By 2014, the three musicians thought they were sounding like a real band so they recorded a debut album under the name Puss N Boots. The trio released its second album, Sister, on February 14, 2020.

In its infancy, Puss n Boots leaned towards alternative country, largely because that was the easiest route for budding guitarists. Tonight, approaching 12 years of collaboration, the trio performed a wider scope of music at the Bowery Ballroom. The anchor might have been country and Americana, but the musicians took many sidesteps to folk, pop and indie rock. While most of the songs were played on guitar, bass, and drums, Jones, Dobson and Popper rotated frequently on these instruments. They alternated on lead vocals, and also grouped for two-part and three-part harmonies. Performing two sets allowed the trio to perform a lengthy catalogue that included several covers. For the most part, the set was well-rehearsed and professional, yet by contrast the between-song chatter fueled an intrinsic informality, like the musicians still were leading a party for their friends. Puss n Boots is no longer simply a side project for Jones, Dobson and Popper; it is a serious yet fun outlet for their experimentation.