EAR TO THE GROUND: Get ready to put on your listening ears
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to witness a sold-out show at the Cox Capitol Theatre and a packed (and new) house music event at a fancy cocktail bar on the same night. The night was brutally cold and the wind made it even more difficult to deal with, but throngs of people came out to enjoy music.
In my mind, this is proof that we, as a city -- but more specifically as a community that supports both the music of the past and the present -- are making some progress.
Witnessing live music, great live music, is a transformative experience. In order for the experience to be truly transformative, the listener must be engaged in the moment. Not watching the show through an iPhone or chatting loudly during a performance, but actively watching, listening and moving to the music.
Too often music provides a barely audible, and often ignored, soundtrack to a night out on the town. What would happen if there was a small venue or event dedicated to providing a space for songwriters to showcase their talent to an attentive audience? Just such a thing is happening tonight with three talented songwriters.
Let's start with the locals. Justin Cutway moved to Macon more than a decade ago and has performed all by his lonesome and with several projects during that time. His songwriting talent is unmatched in this area and his ability to capture a crowd's attention is as subtle as it is powerful. This is his first show in quite some time and I couldn't be more excited about it.
Speaking of not performing in quite awhile, Chad Evans is another local songwriting hero. Part of his extended break from writing and performing music can be blamed on his leadership role with the Moonhanger group, the fellas behind the Rookery, Dovetail, H&H and the Cox Capitol Theatre.
The "headliner," Brett Harris, is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Durham, North Carolina. Since releasing his debut LP in 2010, his work has attracted attention from both NPR and Paste magazine. In addition to his own work, he is a highly sought after instrumentalist, touring the U.S. and abroad as a band member for live performances of Big Star's Third and The dB's.
The point: Brett Harris is a talented songwriter that you will not have the luxury of witnessing in a small space for too much longer.
Seeing a great singer/songwriter in a small venue where the music (not bar sales) takes center stage is an incredible experience. Music doesn't get much more simple than a human with a guitar.
The beauty of this set up lies in its simplicity: armed with a voice and a guitar, the singer/songwriter could not be more vulnerable. With this vulnerability comes an intimacy that cannot be projected with amplifiers and light shows. Tonight, not one, not two, but three fantastic singer/songwriters will be performing at Fresh Produce Records and I hope to see ya' there.
Chris Nylund is a founding member of Field Note Stenographers, a collective of local musicians who write about shows in Middle Georgia. He likes books without pictures, good music and playing a variety of instruments with varying degrees of success. Contact him at fieldnotestenographers@gmail.com.
This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "EAR TO THE GROUND: Get ready to put on your listening ears ."