Lavin’s round-robin new-wave sing-along is loony, stirring

When new-wave folk singer/songwriter Christine Lavin hosts a sing-along, it’s bound to be a little loony, a little stirring, and a lot of fun. On Friday night, when Lavin visited the Maine Center for the Arts with three other solo guitarists, she once again brought her special combination of hospitality and talent to the area.

The organization of “On A Winter’s Night” was rather unusual. The four soloists, including Lavin, Patti Larkin, John Gorka, and Cliff Eberhardt, each performed what might be called a round-robin of thematic sets, the first of which Lavin described as songs each would sing “if we could only sing one song to introduce ourselves.” Then the performers took turns playing introductory pieces.

During the next round, devoted to “new songs,” Lavin sang witty words to an a cappella version of the “Jeopardy” theme song, before debuting a sentimental song about figure skating. The latter, which included the sing-songy refrain “I wish I could jump. I wish I could spin. I wish I could always stay in this mood I’m in,” was not one of Lavin’s best attempts at a serious song. Later in the evening, however, during a song round called “songs we’d like to leave you with,” Lavin performed the more poignant piece “The Kind of Love You Never Recover From,” which is among the most poetically and musically impressive of her serious repertoire.

Lasting more than an hour, the first half of the concert featured the soloists individually. Larkin, whose low hanging guitar, wild mane of hair, and stiffly poised legs emphasized her funky style, stood out with her skillful slide techniques and Latin-flavored strumming. During other segments of the show, Larkin’s piquant playing stimulated otherwise bland melodies.

Gorka presented several uncharacteristically upbeat numbers and, like Lavin, contributed a dynamic quality to the evening, especially when talking with the audience (as each performer did throughout the show). Eberhardt, whose fans from Blue Hill’s Left Bank Cafe shouted screams of support from their seats, was empassioned when he played cuts from his Windham Hill recording. As his face writhed with emotion and his guitar took unmerciful blows upon its strings, this urban troubadour was, at times, more irritating than entertaining.

At intermission, Lavin met the audience in the lobby and handed out slips of paper so listeners could write down song-theme suggestions for the second act. When the performers returned to stage, they read the requests and played songs that were — if only remotely — related to suggestions pulled from a bag. In general, this act was more light-hearted and included Lavin’s “Sensitive New Age Guys,” during which several men from the audience joined Gorka and Eberhardt at the microphone.

The show ended with a group performance of “I Get By (With a Little Help From My Friends),” Eberhardt’s “The Long Road,” Gorka’s country tune “The Pilot Light Is Out on Our Oven of Love,” and a ’50s-inspired folk song by Larkin. The highlight of the closing, however, was when Larkin’s song segued to “Johnny B. Goode,” during which Lavin showed off her other, well-loved talent for baton twirling. After two encores, the foursome — locked arm-in-arm — took a final bow before a full house of standing clappers, and brought the nearly three hours of new-wave folk music to a satisfying end.