Lost and Found, found

Last Saturday, Kerry and I went to see Lost and Found play a concert in Bowie. We missed most of the opening act by going to the wrong venue first. (Watch out, faithful reader! The Lutherans will put a "Trinity" and "Holy Trinity" church within miles of one another.)

Lost and Found are a two-man group in the nasal singer-songwriter tradition of They Might Be Giants. Their instrumentation is a bit more limited than TMBG - guitar and keyboard, with occasional recorder and Slinky (tm) - and they're not quite as quirky, but they have a similar sense of humor. And of course, they are a purposefully Christian band, playing songs and about God and Jesus, and thrashing versions of classic hymns (well, as thrashing as you can be on acoustic guitar).

You can hear samples of Lost and Found at their website (www.speedwood.com), but their recordings, while enjoyable, have nothing on their live shows. They're not as much concerts as lounge shows (with the lights up, in a church). Between songs they tell little stories, take requests (they don't have a pre-set song list), and talk with audience members, learning names and little facts. The closing song is always "Slide Girl" (OK, I guess their song list is somewhat pre-set), where the lyrics are improvised about that night's show. The level of interaction with the band makes the show super-fun.

Note: If you are motivated to go look hunting on the Internet for Lost and Found tracks, do be aware that they are not the same as *The* Lost and Found, a bluegrass band.