Rosanne Cash brings "The List" to the Guthrie

Rosanne Cash at the Dakota in July 2009/Star Tribune photo by Marlin Levison

Rosanne Cash's concert Monday at the Guthrie was quite good – but it was essentially the same set list that she performed last summer at the Dakota. Actually, she was looser, sloppier (in a fun way) and more talkative at the Dakota. That night, she and her husband, guitarist John Leventhal, came across as the Gracie Allen and George Burns of the folk-country scene, as she likes to say. This time, the duo had the 95-minute set down, with few glitches and minimal repartee. Cash's set list was heavy on songs from her October album, "The List," which features classic American songs her father, Johnny Cash, suggested that she get to know when she was 18. The 54-year-old former country star also did a few of her own tunes including "Black Cadillac," "The Wheel," "World Unseen" and, of course, "Seven Year Ache." A highlight was a cover not on "The List": "Ode to Billie Joe." One cool surprise was a requested encore of "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me," which Cash said she hadn't done in eight years so she apologized in advance for not knowing all the lyrics. She had only one brief lapse. And no one complained. Cash did complain about having a bit of a cold (from airplane travel) but she sounded in pretty good voice. The singer, who had played at the old Guthrie, praised the new theater: "The new Guthrie sounds perfectly great." The best news of the night was that Cash and a full band will play at the Minnesota State Fair doing all the tunes from "The List" for two nights at the Bandshell.