Last night I was supposed to see Small Black a Brooklyn duo at McCarran park on Day 49 of the 50in50 quest. I was looking forward to hearing band members josh y ryan and juan y jeff play their intriguingly titled songs "Weird Machines," Despicable Dogs," and "Bad Lover", but unfortunately raindrops derailed my plan. Although the skies became clear shortly after a brief drizzle, the threat of rain was enough to convince Small Black to cancel their set, which was the opening for a film showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Scrambling to find a musical replacement, I ended up at Pianos for the second night in a row where I watched a set by Cain and Annabelle (Cain Crawford and Annabelle La Foy).

Cain and Annabelle are a country/folk duo from Tennessee with a sound that recalls the Carter family's grit and Michelle Shocked’s melancholy spaceyness. Last night, the duo played in Pianos' upstairs area for a very small crowd with Cain dedicating the set to a friend who was in attendance. Cain and Annabelle have only been playing together since Winter 2009, and as instrumentalists, the duo have an amateurish, basic skill set; their strength is in their harmony singing and lyricism. On songs like “The Avenue” the duo demonstrated likable vocal chemistry as Cain strummed on an acoustic accompanied by Annabelle’s piano.