My two daughters LOVE Australian indie artist Julia Jacklin.

Now I do too.

My oldest, 26-year-old Kirsti, has been a gigging singer-songwriter since she was 15 and would love Jacklin’s level of success: songs recognized and loved that provide a good living as a musician, but not to the superstar level of fame that alters your ability to go have a coffee down the street.

When she gigs and my 23-year-old daughter Sarah is around, they regularly share the mic and harmonize on Jacklin’s “Pool Party,” and noisy bars and restaurants often go quiet to listen.

So, when Jacklin announced plans to play in Burlington, Vermont, where Sarah lives and both went to college, Sarah quickly purchased four tickets; two for them and one for her boyfriend, Ben – and one for me.

I love that they want to take their 56-year-old dad along to shows.

Although my exposure to Jacklin is basically “Pool Party,” both her version and my kids’,

I love live music and love seeing shows with my girls. With Kirsti now married and living in Spain, my chances to hear her play live and see shows with have decreased to a month in the summer.

The Julia Jacklin show was going to be the epic father-daughters show of the summer, like last year’s Sharon Von Etten-Angel Olson-Julian Baker show.

And then it wasn’t.

Kirsti was asked to be in the wedding of a longtime friend and the rehearsal dinner was the night of the show.

She was out.

Sarah went with Ben and raved about the show. She sold the other two tickets. Kirsti and I were bummed.

Fast-forward a couple weeks and an email pops into my inbox from – wait for it – Julia Jackin’s publicist asking if I wanted to write about Jacklin’s Aug. 4 show at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, just 90 minutes south of me.

I know, right?

Of course I wanted to – but only if I can get my girls in with me.

I emailed her the Julia Jacklin tale of the missed concert and the dad-daughters concert-going bond. She liked the story, but wasn’t sure three tickets were possible. She told me to fill out a form formally seeking the tickets. I did so, and emailed back also offering to pay for tickets to the sold-out show if three became available.

I just really wanted my two girls to get to see Jacklin together, like was planned for Burlington.

Days passed without a response.

I was sure it was a no, and I understood. The Levon Helm Studios space only fits 250 people, and I’m just a freelancer and full-time professor without huge clout. It was a big ask.

Sarah came back home to our Queensbury, New York home the Thursday night before the show to see her sister and then head to see friends in Rhode Island.

Plans to go to the show had been forgotten.

Seconds before her arrival, however, I got an email from the publicist saying: “Great news, we got you set for 3 tickets and one photo pass.”

I called Kirsti down from her attic bedroom that we’ve kept the same for her summer visits, and announced in the kitchen that we were headed to Julia Jacklin tomorrow night.

They literally jumped around the kitchen for 45 seconds, arms embraced and screaming.

It was especially good news for Kirsti, who hours earlier learned that her best friend’s wedding day next year had been moved from Aug. 3 to July 13 – the day before she was supposed to be in Milan with Sarah and friends to Taylor Swift. The Jacklin news was JUST what she needed.

 News of the tickets was great, but a day later the show was even better.

If you haven’t been to Levon Helm Studios, go.

Just go.

The amazing vibe of the place starts with the back roads to get there and staffers greeting you at the drive-in theater-like booth to get your wristband before parking in a grassy field parking lot.

We got VIP wristbands, and they felt so special walking in past the velvet ropes.

Past the quaint little merch shop, are the stairs leading to the venue above. It’s basically a barn, with standing room perches from above on four sides and with the front row of metal folding chairs literally touching Jacklin’s monitor.

There are no concessions, no frills, but amazing acoustics and a unique venue feeling like I’ve never felt.

Honestly, as opening act Kara Jackson was playing with her dad sitting right in front of me, I was thinking how much I’d love to see Kirsti play there, open for someone like Jacklin in a place where every note, every tone inflection is heard by the intimate crowd.  

And Jacklin took full advantage of the acoustics. She softly whispered into the mic at times on tunes like “Moviegoer” and screamed into it – perfectly in tune – on others like “Pressure to Party” and “Don’t know how to keep like you.”

Kirsti has seen a ton of shows across the globe, but told me after hearing Jacklin that it might have been the best vocal performance she’s ever heard. She said some tunes sounded better live than the studio versions – a great compliment for a performer.

If you haven’t heard Jacklin, I’d describe her as a performer who can captivate you with the softness of her voice when it’s just her and guitar, but who can then turn to into an almost grunge/punk sound with thrashing guitars and piercing, emotional high notes like on “Love, try not to let go.”

I’m picturing Jewel mixed with Nirvana or the Replacements.

Many of her songs start soft and build to thrashing crescendos, leaving listeners in love with both sides of her.

 She was also super personable, taking time to recognize an 8-year-old’s birthday, and often telling stories and one-liners.

She told about not being good at jamming, but how she found the secret – turn her guitar down and let others jam for real.

She also at one point asked if anyone had questions and one wanted to know what she had for dinner.

“I haven’t had dinner yet, so that’s yet to be determined.”

One asked about her dress, which she revealed was a Laura Ashley, which led to a discussion of how she struggles with what to wear as her stage self, which led to talk of her “utility kilt” skirt she bought that is both “me on stage and me off-stage.” She loved it, wore it for three shows, then promptly left it behind in North Carolina.

“But the hotel just called me and they found it,” she said to the delight of the crowd.  

And she spoke briefly about a song she said she wish she didn’t record, a clearly personal and beautiful song called “Less of a Stranger” about wishing for a better relationship with her mom. 

She appeared a little tired and spoke longingly about having only two stops left on the tour. But she also seemed to love the intimacy of Levon Helm Studios, saying it “makes us feel very cool.”

And though admittedly road weary, you wouldn’t have known it by her voice.

She had the entire crowd mesmerized throughout.

Although I was a little disappointed to not hear “Pool Party,” a frequent encore, hearing my daughters sing along to her “Hay Plain” encore was just as good or better.

When Jacklin announced she was doing something a little different with the encore, something from the past, both girls were hoping it was “Hay Plain.”

“Oh my God I’m so psyched,” Sarah said at hearing the first chords.

“Oh my God YES,” Kirsti said almost in unison.

She belted the encore, another great build song. The crowd roared. When she was done, I asked a man behind us to snap our picture to commemorate it. He took took a little longer than expected, the girls missed Jacklin exiting the stage and the shots weren’t great, but glad I have them.

And my takeaway from the show is Julia Jacklin is a star who is tough to label. Her voice is stunning as a whisper and a scream, yet she’s also a rocker who loves loud, driving chords. And her writing is meaningful, purposeful and relatable. If you haven’t seen her or listened to her, do so, and you’ll thank me.