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AUSTIN, TX- It’s not often that a performance leaves you feeling as if you’ve been invited into someone’s living room, with music that wraps around you like an old, familiar blanket. But that’s precisely what Rainbow Girls delivered at Luck Reunion this year. The Bay Area trio—Erin Chapin, Caitlin Gowdey, and Vanessa Wilbourn—had me feeling like a welcome guest at a private concert, one where the boundary between audience and artist dissolved into an intimate communion of song and soul.
I’d seen them before, opening for Ani DiFranco at The Ford in Los Angeles. Their performance then was spirited and spunky, an organic blend of Americana with seamless harmonies that had the late-arriving LA crowd regretting their fashionable tardiness. They commanded the stage with sharp repartee, even rallying the audience in a collective protest against the Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. That night, the Rainbow Girls earned as many laughs between songs as they did applause when their music hit those sweet spots, their bluesy folk with a country twang setting a warm tone as the sun dipped below the LA skyline.
But here at Luck Reunion, nestled in the intimate setting of the Chapel, the Rainbow Girls revealed a different side. Gone was the expansive, open-air vibe of The Ford; in its place was a performance that felt close, personal, and profoundly human. The Chapel’s tiny space lent their harmonies an intimate quality—smooth, lush, and so perfectly in sync that it felt as though the trio was breathing as one. Their voices intertwined with such ease that it brought to mind the classic harmonies of the Andrews Sisters, reimagined through a folk lens.
The casualness of their approach only added to the charm. There was no pretense, no barrier between artist and audience. Instead, it was as if the Rainbow Girls were simply sharing a piece of themselves with us, making the Chapel’s small congregation feel like old friends. Their banter was warm, their smiles genuine, and each note they sang carried the weight of connection—a thread weaving us all together in that sacred space.
This was a different Rainbow Girls than the one I saw in Los Angeles. Here, they weren’t just performers on a stage; they were storytellers, friends, and fellow travelers. And as the final notes lingered in the air, I found myself wishing the moment could last just a little longer.
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CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE ACTS WE CAUGHT AT LUCK REUNION!
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