Severin Browne - House Concert Review

Writing songs is tough stuff. I know, I've tried many times with VERY limited success. So I am always impressed by a songwriter who can write high-quality songs prolifically. Throw in the ability to perform these songs entertainingly for audiences and you have the makings of a major talent. Since the early 70's Severin Browne has been accomplishing such magic and this past Saturday night we got to experience this talent first-hand, close-up at the Boney Mountain House Concert series in Newbury Park, CA. Again, here is a link for the concert series:

http://www.brandick.com/Boney-Mountain-Home.htm

Severin Browne may be best known as Jackson Browne's younger brother, a fact he failed to mention all evening, but in the early to mid 70's he was a staff songwriter and recording artist for, of all labels, Motown Records. He never really fit in or hit it big there but he began developing songwriting and performing chops that still serve him today. We had seen Severin Browne once a few years ago at a songwriter showcase where he performed a few songs we loved and we have been looking forward to seeing a full night of his music ever since. Because Severin predominately makes his living as a guitar and music teacher, his performing schedule tends to be a bit light and it had taken us a long time to get a chance to hear him again. It was an opportunity worth waiting for, but I hope we don't have to wait so long to see him again.

So, as you have hopefully already read in my venue review, the Boney Mountain House Concerts have a unique feature. Our host, Steve Brandick, performs a short opening set personally before the main act takes the spotlight. This practice is endearing in concept and quite a lot of fun in practice. On this night Steve took the stage to perform two songs before the first set. The first song was a blues he performed with a guest harmonica player named Russ. The second song was one of Steve's originals, a hilarious take on growing older called "I'm In Pretty Good Shape For the Shape I'm In". It was a great warm-up for the rest of the evening.

Then Severin took the stage looking more like a grown-up member of the Bowery Boys than a pop star (see above picture). His first song was a song called "CatWoman" ( note to Zoe - this one's for you!) about a woman who feeds the cats of New Orleans from the back of the fast food chicken restaurant where she works. A typical Severin song mixing humor and poignancy with a catchy melodic nature it got the evening started. The first set featured quite a few humorous tunes, most notably "My Midlife Crisis" a great follow-up to Steve's similar take on aging and "The Other Man" a minor key ballad comparing an extramarital affair to life as a pirate that he describes as being in the "key of Aaargh". Maybe the funniest tune of all was one he didn't write. "Would You Like To Play The Guitar?" was the classic "Would You Like To Swing On a Star" with new lyrics by Pat Donahue, guitarist for Prairie Home Companion, lampooning the music business at all levels. Hilarious and cutting satire that had added mirth for all of us guitarists in the audience. Mixed in with the humor were some "serious" tunes also, including "To The Light" a song he cowrote at a songwriting workshop with Freebo, James Lee Stanley and David Roth ( not my cousin or David Lee Roth from Van Halen, but the singer/songwriter Kerville Festival winner). We've heard Freebo's version of this song and, while it was the best song Freebo did, the lyrics bordered on New Agey excess in his delivery. In Severin's low-key vocal delivery the song takes on more weight and the interesting chord progression and melody are able to save the song from triteness and bring it towards the transcendence the song strives for. And for me, the highlight song of the evening was "Dear Ruthie" a moving spiritual lesson in song form that Severin had dropped from his repertoire and had to be talked into performing again. This is one of those "perfect" songs where you wouldn't change a note or word or nuance and that us mere mortals can only dream of ever writing. That he stopped performing such a masterpiece I find astounding, like Michaelangelo leaving the Sistine Chapel ceiling out of his portfolio.

Intermissions are always fun at house concerts, great pot luck appetizers and desserts, mingling with those we know and meeting new friends, enjoying the great backyard of our hosts, the Brandick's, and meeting the artist and buying CDs. I was lucky enough to get to talk to Severin quite a bit while purchasing a CD and having it signed. He is extremely friendly and approachable and I found him charming and very interesting to talk to.

The second set began as the first, with Steve getting up to do one more opening tune. Inspired by Severin's "Dear Ruthie" take on spirituality he chose his tune "You Went And Got Religion", a hysterical documentation of the power of religion to screw up relationships. Severin then came back with a song from 1996, "Uptown" followed by a couple from his last album, 2001's "This Twisted Road", the title track's healing reaction to the Oklahoma City bombing and "Strange Life" another one he has only recently added back to his performing repertoire. The second set was more reliant on "serious" songs than the first , working in the love song "When Its Right, Its Right" and the catchy singalong of "I Am and I Will". But humor did reappear when Severin did the song I requested at intermission, the bouncy rockabilly-sounding "Angelyne" which he co wrote with Paul Zollo and its catchy upbeat rhythm inspired "chair dancing" behind me by Julie Paris of Russ and Julie's House concert and Renee Bodie of Bodie House Concerts. And when the show finally ended the audience had really experienced a well-rounded, balanced show that had covered quite a bit of stylistic and emotional territory.

Severin's performance style is laid-back. I'd be tempted to call his voice average or mediocre but when I think back on his show he NEVER hit a bad note at all, so maybe I am more noting the lack of vocal "fireworks" than any short coming. In fact this vocal approach shows deference to the songs themselves, never putting the focus on him rather than his songs. One interesting note, Severin is the first singer/songwriter/guitarist that I've seen in ages that never changed tunings on his guitar or switched to another guitar already in a different tuning. All of his songs were performed in standard orchestral tuning. His guitar playing is INCREDIBLE, technically brilliant but at the same time tasty and always appropriate to serving the song. And ultimately a night with Severin Browne IS all about the songs, humorous and moving and as warm and accessible as the man himself. Do yourself a favor and catch his act sometime, he is a truly unique talent that is way under-appreciated in his own home area. Here is a link to his website so you can keep your eye on him:

http://www.severinbrowne.com/

Boney Mountain House Concerts - Venue Review

One of the newer house concert series in our area of So Cal is Boney Mountain House Concerts. Steve Brandick and his wife Yolanda have been inviting folks to their home to appreciate the area's best acoustic acts for just over a year now. Their lovely home is located in Newbury Park at the foot of Boney Mountain and may be the prettiest setting for a house concert that we have ever seen. The Brandick's schedule of house concerts is less frequent than some, with about four concerts a year, but the quality of talent is top-notch. This past Saturday was our second visit there and we're sure we'll be back often.

Both times we have been at this venue the suggested donation has been $15 each, paid house concert-style into the bowl at the front door. The room for the concert is a multi-use room in its daily guise, with the back section in the kitchen area and the "stage" and front section I'd guess to be a dining room/family room. Can lights over the "stage area" simulate real stage lighting to good effect and there is a small house PA system. The seating area has about 60 or so seats and is one of the smaller capacity homes where we've seen a show. And probably the only criticism I could offer is that the basic folding chairs are very uncomfortable, but I know they are rentals and with such a small room, the only way to make money for the acts is to pack them in. Besides, we are all supposed to suffer for art, aren't we?

The most unique thing about the Boney Mountain House Concerts is the opening act. Steve Brandick is quite an accomplished singer/songwriter/guitarist and performs a very short set before his acts take the stage. He really is quite good, his songs very entertaining and he is often very funny but also does serious music too. His songs tend to be bluesy which suits his voice perfectly. I would be delighted to hear a full set sometime.

With that one notable exception, the rest of the operation is fairly typical house concert procedure. Two sets with an intermission for potluck appetizer/dessert, mingling, meeting the artist and of course, most importantly, buying a CD or two and getting them signed! There is wine there and the hosts graciously have coffee in the kitchen. And their backyard!!! Let's just say, Becky always leaves there with a severe case of backyard-envy. On our first visit it was an amazing work-in-progress and now finished its incredible with a great big porch, beautiful plantings and more hummingbirds than I have ever seen in one place. And the view is postcard worthy. We are ALMOST sorry when its time to go hear more great music.

This last time we were there, Steve announced he would be doing 4 concerts in the next year and is relying on his upcoming trip to the FAR-West acoustic music convention to shop for acts. Based on the quality of the acts he has picked thus far, I'm sure next year's music will be memorable. And in this warm friendly atmosphere I'm sure we'll be there to enjoy it as often as we can.

LIVE OAK - THE MUSIC - SUNDAY

And so we come to the last day of the Live Oak Festival and of course we started the day by sleeping in and missing the first few acts of the day. In the early morning on the Hot Licks Stage we missed Andrew Jackson and Duende. Andrew is a guitarist we have heard a couple of times before but only solo not with the band. He is a technically brilliant fingerstyle acoustic guitarist whose style defies classification because he draws on so many varied influences, thus he calls himself "The Guitar Chameleon". We were very sorry to miss his performance and would like to throttle whoever booked him for 8 AM. Here's a link to Andrew's website :

http://www.andrewjacksonmusic.com/

The next act we missed is another regretful occurrence. The Cache Valley Drifters have been playing bluegrass music around Central Calif. for decades and are among the areas most respected players. Please check out their sight and music:

http://www.myspace.com/cachevalleydrifters

The last act we missed was more by choice. We caught the group "Po' Girl" on the radio. They are a group centered around the singing/songwriting team Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira. What can I say? I didn't really care for this group. Both singers have quirky, affected singing styles, either of which alone would be OK, but together were a bit much. Add this to songs that left me underwhelmed and you get the picture. But you very well might love them so take the time to check out their site. I hate dissing any musicians :

http://www.pogirl.net/

Now, on to the music we loved. A real highlight of the festival came next. We had heard the Masanga Marimba Ensemble at last year's WorldFest and loved them and were thrilled to get another chance to see them, both on the Main Stage in the morning and later in a hands-on workshop at the Stage Too in the afternoon. The group consists of Ric Alviso, a World Music professor at CSU Northridge along with a bunch of his students and former students playing seven different marimbas of various sizes and voices along with percussion and some occasional sax or trumpet work. They were joined on the MainStage for a few songs by a group of dancers that made the whole act even more fun. The lower left picture above shows the band with the dancers. And fun is what this group is about, not only for the audience, but I don't think I've ever seen any band members having more obvious fun on stage! Their music is a mixture of African and Latin American styles and is at all times up-tempo and dance-inducing. At the afternoon workshop they had most of the audience rotate onto the stage and try out the marimbas for a few minutes. Entertaining, educational and cross-cultural, their shows, I'm sure, were many people's favorite memory of the festival. Check them out here :

http://www.masanga.com/home.html

Next on the Main Stage was The Jim Lauderdale Bluegrass Band. Jim is a well known singer/songwriter in the country/bluegrass/Americana genre. His songs have been recorded by many country artists like George Strait and the Dixie Chicks. He and his band played an engaging set of his songs which were quite enjoyable even though not my real thing. Millions out there love him so check out his site :

http://www.myspace.com/jimlauderdale

Our next move was to the Stage Too workshop where we saw the group "Girlyman", who we also saw later on the Main Stage. I will handle both performances at once to be concise and because it all has merged in my memory anyway. One of those groups that absolutely defy description, I have to rank Girlyman as one my surprises of the festival. The group consists of
Ty Greenstein, Doris Muramatsu and Nate Borofsky playing a range of instruments including acoustic guitar, electric baritone guitar, banjo, mandolin and djembe, with all three switching off on lead vocals and all doing harmony vocals. Like lots of the acts here, their music is hard to categorize but probably ultimately they are best described as a contemporary folk act. This is a group whose sum is more than the total of its parts. Their songs are pleasant if not terribly memorable and the musicianship is professional if not exactly compelling but their harmony vocals stand out as their strongest attribute and I found myself really liking them and yet still wondering why. I was particularly intrigued by Nate's baritone electric guitar playing. I have NEVER seen a baritone electric before and was knocked out by its ability to move between bass lines, chords and melody fills often sounding totally different in the course of a few bars of music. This instrument helped lend a fullness to the music while keeping a varied, interesting sound. I left their shows that weekend being glad I would soon see them again at the Kate Wolf Festival. The upper left photoo is Girlyman at the Stage Too workshop stage. Check out their site:

http://www.girlyman.com/

The act that next took the Main Stage suffers from the distinction of being my least favorite act of the weekend. The Anonymous 4 featuring Darol Anger and Scott Law center around a quartet of female vocalists doing Appalachian folk music at its most traditional. All have lovely voices and accompanists Darol Anger on fiddle and Scott Law on guitar are masters of their instruments but again this music is not my favorite stuff by a long shot and for the first time all weekend I was a bit bored. But you may love this stuff so here you go:.

http://www.myspace.com/theanonymous4

Well, all good things must end and this festival saved one of its greatest acts for last in Rodney Crowell. This was an act I was eager to see , I have long been a fan of Rodney as a songwriter and as legendary leader of Emmy Lou Harris' Hot Band many years ago. I've heard great stuff about his live shows with his own band and wasn't disappointed at all. Rodney's songs walk that line between folk and country and rock and have earned him Grammys and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Accompanied by a second guitarist and stand up bass, Rodney did a set of his classics along with a couple new ones. And being Father's Day, it was particularly moving when he called his daughter, Chelsea, up to sing a couple of tunes with him. I gather it was one of few times they've performed on stage together. Highlights for me included his classic "Long Hard Road" and a new one "The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design". This was a remarkable end to a VERY fun weekend of music. Photo upper right is Rodney and band. Here's a link for Rodney:

http://www.rodneycrowell.com/index.php

So with the traditional Live Oak closing of Joe Dickerson doing "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes, the weekend was over except for clean up and packing the next morning. But we kept from being too sad, knowing that we had a few days vacation to enjoy and then the next weekend we would be at the Kate Wolf Festival for another three days of music. That festival will be the subject of my next review which will be up soon!