Vance Gilbert branching out again, this time opening shows for comedian Paul Reiser
Vance Gilbert is the kind of artist who revels in exploration, finding new ways to express himself, and surprising music fans with how many styles he can master. This spring he’s been having fun doing something a bit different, opening a national tour for comedian Paul Reiser, best known for his role in TV’s “Mad About You.”
This week also marks the release of Gilbert’s 14th album, “The Mother of Trouble,” and he’s performing at a pair of area venues this weekend. On Sunday night, Gilbert is headlining Club Passim in Harvard Square, fronting a quartet. Before that, on Saturday night, Gilbert is part of a multi-act Concert for a Cure at Norwood’s Fallout Shelter, a concert with proceeds going to breast cancer research, where the night will include sets from Gilbert, Taunton’s Kerri Powers, Cohasset’s Chuck McDermott and Sarah Levecque.
(Club Passim is located at 47 Palmer St. in Cambridge, and the show begins at 7 p.m., with tickets $30, available through clubpassim.org, or at the door, call 617-492-7679 for more information. Saturday’s benefit for breast cancer research also begins at 7 p.m., and the Fallout Shelter is located at 61 Endicott St. in Norwood. Tickets are $75, and available through grcpac.yapsody.com, and for more information, email info.grcpac@gmail.com).
On the road with Reiser
“Working with Paul Reiser has been fruitful in a number of ways,” Gilbert said, on a short tour break at his Arlington home last week. “First of all, he’s great to watch, a genius at standup comedy. To see the way he works the stage every night is wonderful. And his undergraduate degree was in musical composition, so we have a lot in common. My typical folk music audience tends to come from somewhere else, so it has been a great chance to connect with a different audience. But I have learned my set has to be different than other venues, and I can’t do a ton of ballads. Paul wants my set to be high energy, taking people to that feeling where they want to be lively and having fun.”
Gilbert’s career has been a primer for any musician who loves being alive and having fun, and he’s written some of the most humorous and offbeat tunes of any folk artist. For years, Gilbert’s "day job" was as a multicultural arts teacher in the Boston school system, and he brings a lively sense of stage presence and engaging manner to his shows, as well as delving into a panoply of musical styles. His lyrics are also quite articulate, detailed story-songs that bring the listener right into the snapshot of life and emotions he’s portraying. Some numbers are delectably witty, others are hauntingly poignant.
Guests featured on new album
The new album features guests, like guitarist Joey Landreth, mandolin ace Joe K. Walsh and Stoughton songwriter Lori McKenna, who provides some harmony vocals.
“That ends with me trying to corral Lori in the studio to give her a small check for her work and she doing her best to avoid me,” Gilbert said, chuckling. “That’s Lori, the most generous, most genuine friend you could ever have.”
The wildly entertaining range of styles on the new record includes “Bad For Me,” a raucous big-band romp where the singer is explaining to an ex that “you ain’t a bad person, you’re just bad for me.”
“I was trying for a Louis Jordan vibe on ‘Bad For Me,’" Gilbert said with a laugh. “I’ve always been a great admirer of Louis Jordan’s musicality, where he’s singing, scatting and playing sax. This album is admittedly all over the map –but that’s quintessential Vance. One day I’m listening to Miles Davis, the next it’s Jason Isbell, the next Phoebe Bridgers. It just depends on what I’m into on any given day. But I have always loved Louis Jordan’s energy, and how close to rock ‘n’ roll he was.”
The new album includes heavier themes, such as "The Mother of Trouble," where the insistent funk undertones frame a family saga complicated by a gun in the house. And "Body in the Well," is an acoustic folk tale that takes Southern Gothic to the edge of parody: “don’t drink the water, there’s a body in the well."
“'Mother of Trouble’ is a made-up story, but it went in a direction that even surprised me,” said Gilbert. "‘Well’ was a really fun one to write, and if you listen closely, it has a certain amount of the downtrodden people getting their moments. It’s like Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Telltale Heart’ a bit, in that you know there’s more going on, not necessarily a beating heart, but something.”
Tackling a troubling topic
The album also includes a pair of linked songs, as “Black Rochelle” and “Honeysuckle Fences” deal with bullying. The first expresses regret at not stepping in to help a classmate, and the second ponders defending someone from bullying. Both are thoughtful numbers about a difficult subject.
“I’m glad that I had that place to look for subject matter,” said Gilbert. “But I’m not the first to deal with bullying in a song; Suzanne Vega’s ‘Luka’ was about bullying, and Tracy Chapman had a terrific song about domestic abuse. It is not easy subject material, but I’m glad if those songs feel out of the ordinary. I call it the ‘Bullying Suite,’ and one song is kind of an apology, where the other one is about some amount of payback. Maybe one song answers the other. I’m not sure. But I do like moving the needle and making people think about things like that.”
Putting his own spin on romance
Gilbert can also do romantic tunes, but with his own spin of course.
“One or Two of These Things” is an easy, lilting tune that describes a fine romance with a series of disparate metaphors. “A Room Somewhere” is an acoustic ballad centered on Walsh’s mandolin that looks back at a love that didn’t last. And “I Hope He’s the One This Time” is a gorgeous piano ballad that expresses affection and good vibes for the future to an ex-lover.
“One or Two of These Things” is one of those songs I need to play out, because there’s a lot of space in it,” said Gilbert. “I made sure to separate that and ‘A Room Somewhere’ on the tracklist, because there are similarities in those themes. ‘A Room Somewhere’ was written by a friend of mine, and it’s about what a relationship could’ve been.”
Putting a different spin on covers
The song that might get the most notice off the new album is Gilbert’s cover of The Carpenters’ immortal hit “Close to You,” which he delivers with a laid-back funk feel.
“I’ve always loved when some of my favorite performers take a song from the mainstream pantheon, and put a funky groove on it,” Gilbert explained. “Lauryn Hill did it brilliantly with The Four Seasons’ ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,’ and several others have done it with Burt Bacharach songs. I play the resonator (steel body guitar) on that, and the keyboards are by Dennis Montgomery, the head of the gospel department at Berklee College of Music. Dennis will be with me at Passim, along with Andy Santospago on guitar, and Marco Giovino on drums – we’re aiming for that classic organ trio sound.”
Psaros working national stages
South Shore favorite Jay Psaros has been on the road opening for some of his famous pals, and the band America invited him up to sing on their encores, including "Horse With No Name," last week in Indiana. Later on, Psaros was in Georgia opening for Three Dog Night in Augusta, where a mix-up at the airport forced him and his dad/road manager, Brian Psaros, to rent a red Ford Mustang – twisted their arms, no doubt. Which Psaros is having more fun on this jaunt is a question for another day. Holliston native Laurie Geltman released a single, “Radio,” a few weeks back, and this weekend an animated video of the tune will be unveiled. Unlike some her rocking past efforts, "Radio" is a lush pop number, a throwback to the singer/songwriter sounds of the ‘70s, which is no accident. Geltman noted the song was designed from “the perspective of someone who grew up when the stereo in your room, the DJs on your favorite stations, and your record collection were the portal to the world beyond your own.” Check it out on all the usual streaming platforms, and rest assured she is finishing up a new album that will be more in her typical rockin’ wheelhouse.
Khemmis, Transviolet, Gilbert coming to town
THURSDAY: Coheed & Cambria thunder into Roadrunner. The Mark Greel Quartet brings some jazz to the Spire Center. Not only does the Narrows Center have Americana favorites Larry Campbell and Theresa Williams headlining, but the superb Lucy Kaplansky is opening. Club D’Elf jams at Soundcheck Studios. Saves the Day rocks the Paradise Rock Club. Khemmis – a Denver doom-metal band – invades Brighton Music Hall. Chimbala raps at the House of Blues. Reggaeton star Mora brings his Paraiso Tour to Big Night Live.
FRIDAY: Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and his Suba Trio at City Winery. Blues-rock phenom Davy Knowles at The Narrows Center. Folksinger Ellis Paul at The Fallout Shelter. Songwriter Rachel Baiman has a fine new album to celebrate at Club Passim. Hard-rockers Finch at the Paradise Rock Club. Millyz raps at The House of Blues. The pop foursome Transviolet at Brighton Music Hall. Worth a trip to Beverly to catch The Wallflowers at The Cabot Theater.
SATURDAY: New England, and national, legends Roomful of Blues takes over The Spire Center. The South Shore Folk Music Club hosts a cool duo, Johnny Hoy and Delanie Pickering. South Shore rockers Bayside High fire up Soundcheck Studios. Folk-rocker Melissa Ferrick at City Winery. Masters of the Telecaster – with guitarists Jim Weider and G.E. Smith – at the Narrows Center. The Fallout Shelter hosts a multi-act benefit for breast cancer research, with Cohasset’s Chuck McDermott, Taunton’s Kerri Powers, and Arlington’s Vance Gilbert among the stars. Workman Song rocks The C-Note. Boston rock icon Robin Lane heats up The Burren. Alt-rock with Upsahl at The Paradise Rock Club. Sullivan King, metal musician and DJ, is at The House of Blues. Metal band Angels Never Die at Brighton Music Hall.
SUNDAY AND BEYOND: Don’t forget the weekly blues jam at Players in Rockland, helmed by Michelle Rockwell, Sundays from 4-8 p.m. Sunday is busy as Raffi does two shows for kids at The Orpheum Theater; Vance Gilbert headlines Club Passim; Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls rock MGM Music Hall; and Brazil’s Tim Bernardes sings at Brighton Music Hall. Tuesday look for British prog-metal band Haken at The Paradise Rock Club. Wednesday singer Betty Soo lights up City Winery. May 11 the Spire Center welcomes ‘Race and Song: A Musical Connection,” with Alastair Moock and Reggie Harris. May 13 guitar ace Plini arrives at the Paradise Rock Club. Van Morrison is at the Boch Center/Shubert Theater on May 14-15. Future shot: a Del Fuegos reunion show has been announced for the East Bridgewater Commercial Club on July 15.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Vance Gilbert using different ways to support his 14th album
