St. Cecilia Music Center’s singer-songwriter night also spotlighted the music of Josh Rose, Hannah Rose Graves and Mark Sala.
As Drew Nelson puts it, “You can say a lot with a little bit of words.”
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On Thursday at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center, six Michigan songwriters had plenty to say musically with more than a few compelling words, plenty of entertaining stories and some cheery on-stage camaraderie as part of the Fresh Folk concert series’ singer-songwriter night.
It all started with Nelson, Jen Sygit and Josh Rose playing a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would sing the first song, and ended with Mark Sala, Hannah Rose Graves and Jimmie Stagger trading songs of love, loss and lonesomeness in emotion-evoking manner.
In between, the evening unfolded as a cozy, engrossing musical affair in the giant living room of St. Cecilia’s Royce Auditorium, with the mix of seasoned and emerging musicians showing off their talents in a pindrop-quiet environment for a rapt crowd of a few hundred folk, Americana and blues devotees.
MUSICAL TALES OF LOVE AND INSPIRATION
They told tales about growing old, about love and love lost, about chasing dreams, about the artists who inspired them, about the challenges of writing, about what happens when you find some success in music and start traveling the land.
“You’re supposed to be writing about life,” Nelson quipped, “and you end up writing about driving.”
The format – with each songwriter choosing and performing three songs in round-robin fashion – seemed perfectly suited to the setting, and showcased the differences in approach by each artist:the smooth folk-pop of Rose and Sala, the engaging Americana of Sygit and Nelson, the rootsy, north Mississippi, resonator-guitar blues of the seasoned veteran, Stagger, and the soulful emotion and youthful potential of Graves (who brought along guitarist Justin Wierenga to accompany her).
More than anything, it was evening to spotlight a cache of smart and inspiring songs.
“I have no idea where my songs come from; they’re just like glorious gifts,” Sygit said at one point.
And like a second Christmas, this was an evening full of those gifts.
The Fresh Folk series concludes on April 3 at St. Cecilia with a performance by Ralston Bowles & Friends and The Northern Skies. More information online here.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music