The first time I heard Brian James play some of his songs at one of Doak Turner's Sunday gatherings, I knew he was a major talent. The round which he put together at the Bluebird along with Arikah Nash, Jody Serrato and Mike Seals further convinced me of that.
This was one of the strongest early evening sets I've seen at the Bluebird, right along with Steve Craig's round of the previous month. The singer/songwriters touched on a variety of styles (country, blues, pop, a touch of gospel) and a couple of common themes: commitment in relationships, having faith to move into the unknown, and importance of family. It was interactive from the get-go, with the souvenir bookmarks on each table to solitication of song ideas from the audience on index cards (taking a cue from the old Mac Davis TV show in which he would make up songs on the spot from audience suggestions). Brian was up to the challenge, creating improv songs about riding a horse and burgers and election day.
Brian clearly has the full package--great songs, great singer, great guitar player, charismatic performer. He won the crowd over in a big way with a comical song, "You Don't Know Jack About Jill", about how little men knew about women. He also did a couple of songs which were already well known to some of us, "Fallen Angels" and "Footprints".
Brian blew me away at a recent gathering with a song about fatherhood, "Daddy Let Me Go". The song was co-written by one of the night's other artists, Jody Serrato. Described by Brian as "a young Mexican Billy Joel", Jody gave us some strong songs about his experience with marriage and fatherhood and the commitment it takes to keep them going as a traveling performer ("First Step", "Worth the Wait").
Arikah Nash, a singer/songwriter/actress, is full of personality and has a very powerful voice that effectively handles a variety of styles. She wrote her first country song while out in L.A., "Faded Blue Jeans" and it worked well with this crowd. She also teamed up with Brian for an electric performance of their song "Walk On Water".
Mike Seals, originally from Chicago, told us he was a rookie songwriter and had only written five songs so far, but they certainly were excellent. Favorites for me were "Crying My Eyes", a traditional country-blues style, and a highlight for the audience, "One Step" a blues number that got the crowd hand clapping and singing along. Mike, keep writing, so far, so good!
The strongest performance of the evening for me was "Stepping Out On Faith", a gospel tinged number with a solid lead vocal from Brian, backups from Arikah and Mike and some nice organ work from Jody.
You can go on the available MySpace pages for these artists and hear some of these songs for yourself. I was talking to someone the other day about how much fun it's going to be to watch some of these marvelous people I've met and heard here so far get that high-profile break that I am absolutely convinced is coming down the road.
It's 2008 and I still love this town.
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1 comment:
I have watched Brian's music grow for years now. He is an awsome musian and a better friend.
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