I was offered the chance to do a 50-minute set to open for Cowspace on their regular Wednesday night gig at Brennan’s (which they’ve been playing for the past 14 years, over 650 shows!), and jumped at it. I immediately began to learn new tunes for the show, and as the setlist took shape I notice that more than half of the songs I’d picked were country tunes of sort. My reverence for country runs deep, from the outlaw country of old - to the alt-country that was took me over in the 90’s - to the to the crafty pop country of today that can convey the story of an entire movie in a 3 1/2 minute song… Then there is the country flavor that rock artists have used to sprinkle their sound with sincerity for decades. Many of the tunes in this set borrow from country in this fashion, and in some ways that is the extent of my interpretation of the genre: no twang, but lots of guts. At least that’s what I was going for when I took the Brennan’s stage Wednesday, check it out…
June 1, 2011 - Brennan’s Pub - Solo Acoustic
1. “Metal Firecracker” - Lucinda Williams (Car Wheels On A Gravel Road - 1998)
My cousin Rob taught me this song a decade ago so that we could perform it at his sister’s wedding. Lucinda Williams captures subtlety, drives a piercing truth, and exudes an authenticity like none other, and “Metal Firecracker” is cold hard proof of her powers. Plus there is a ZZ Top reference that is the cherry on top of this tune which can and should be purchased here.
2. “Dreaming Against Me” - Seven Mary Three (Day & Night - 2008)
Most people, including me, wrote this band off 15 years ago, but they are actually really great songwriters. I met them working at the Castle Recording Studio in Nashville years ago and because they were such nice guys (and because the record they were making sounded amazing through the studio walls) i decided to check out their newer stuff - I’ve been a huge fan ever since. “Dreaming Against Me” was somewhat of a low hanging fruit for me to cover off of an album that was incredibly poignant in my life, Day & Nightdriving. With music, If the timing is right, a good record can sing it’s way right through to your center, capture how you feel, and spit itself back out almost in your own voice. I hope we cross paths again someday so I have a chance to tell them how much that album means to me.
3. “Toledo” - Dan Bern (New American Language - 2001)
The irreverent truth exposed in this song is that life is not what you think, it doesn’t always make sense, and it’s probably your fault for thinking otherwise. Probably above any other song, “Toledo” embodies the reason and spirit behind the Razorface project - an exploration of reverence and irreverence through music. Or not.
4. “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” - Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited - 1965)
I was introduced to this song by Neil Young on the 30th Anniversary Concert Celbration double album as the opening track of disc 2. His version transformed my impression of Dylan as a writer and Young as a performer. His passionate, visceral guitar playing complimented by his raw, tourtured vocal interpretation of this Dylan classic made a huge impression on me well before I started playing guitar. At the same unbelievable concert (held almost 20 years ago in 1992), Young also does “All Along the Watchtower” on this album, a version I strongly prefer to Hendrix’ and Dylan’s to this day. Check out the entire album here.
5. “Waiting On A Friend” - The Rolling Stones (Tattoo You - 1981)
The meaning of this song went through a transformation in me a couple days before the show when I was practicing. I’ve always loved it, but for the first time I felt like I understood it. Then I saw the video for it (below) and now I’m lost again…. I’m not that familiar with the band, but I hear they are big in England. Brace yourself:
6. “Less Than Zero” - Elvis Costello (My Aim Is True - 1977)
My favorite part of this song is the opening line of the first verse, because every time I hear it I think of the Saturday Night Live clip of Elvis stopping “Less than Zero” to break into the un-released “Radio, Radio” instead - watch it and read the story here. As tame as it may seem in the reality era all these years later, it was a pretty big deal for live TV back then. 25 years later he was in cahoots with Beastie Boys for a slightly more contrived reenactment seen here:
7. “No One Left” - Ocelot Robot (Ready to Go - 2010)
The closing song on my band’s debut album, one reviewer called this 11-minute opus “oppressively borish” (hyperlink to article). I mercifly performed only first 3 1/2 minutes, but wouldn’t have even dreamed of attempting the full version without my Robot brothers. You can only get this song by purchasing the entire album, so you might as well do so here.
8. “Cheap Reward” - Elvis Costello (My Aim is True [DELUXE REISSUE] - 1977)
I pushed “Cheap Reward” back in the set to wait for my best friend Geoff to arrive - it is an anthem of sorts for a not-so-brief period of our lives we spent working for whatever version of “the Man” you could call it. A bonus track on the same reissue as “Imagination” [see Setlist Blog #1 below], a big piece of this song ended up in another Costello album cut on This Year’s Model called “Lip Service” - I prefer the simple power of this version, though it is unavailable on iTunes.
9. “Magnolia Mountain” - Ryan Adams & the Cardinals (Cold Roses - 2005)
Track one, disc one of this phenomenal double album shows Ryan Adams at his best. I could play this chord progression for hours, but I love the fact that this guy refuses to repeat himself.
10. “Need One” - Martina Topley-Bird (Quixotic - 2003)
A few years ago, an engineer friend of mine hipped me to Quixotic - the sexy, soulful, and inventive U.K. album release from this largely overlooked British songstress. For some reason, the U.S. release of the album was drastically reordered and released as Anything - totally worth picking up for the title track alone. It was a blast adapting “Need One” for acoustic guitar, but no one does it better than her:
11. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” - The Band (The Band - 1969)
I was somewhat conflicted to play this civil war song, as it’s certainly thick with southern sympathy. However it’s melody and harmony is undeniably enjoyable to perform and I was able to find my own place in the song by slowing it way down and playing with the vocal register from section to section. I honestly feel this group of musicians was the greatest band to every play music - The Band.
12. “Livin’ Small” - Onelinedrawing (The Volunteers - 2004)
Perhaps a bit dated, this reads to me as a response song of sorts to the overblown, hyped-up, pop-culture ideal of “living large” that became common slang in the 90’s. Onelinedrawing is Jonah Matranga, who has one of my favorite my voices ever. His band, Far, put out their first album in 13 years in 2010 (my top rock album in the last 5 years) and his website has probably the most intersting online store i’ve ever seen, check it out: http://jonahmatranga.com
13. “Indoor Fireworks” - Elvis Costello (King of America - 1986)
A fitting close to the new material in this set, “Indoor Fireworks” is a standout country gem from Costello’s mid-80s folk record King of America. Elvis tells a great story about playing this song for George Jones and losing him completely with the first line of the second verse, “You were the spice of life, the gin in my vermuth.” I think Elvis quickly realized cowboys don’t drink martinis. A couple folks at the Brennan’s show actually knew this tune to my surprise.
I had some extra time while Cowspace was stuck in traffic, so I revisitted “All Men Are Liars” from my first set as well as some sneak peeks at tunes I’m working on for the June 9th show, which promises to be a very cool but different vibe. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to play this many tunes at Brennen’s and hoping to be back there for many more shows in the future!
Upcoming Razorface Shows:
- Saturday, June 4 - 7pm at M Bird Studio - Culver City Artwalk
- Wednesday, June 8 - 8pm at Brennan’s Pub
- Thursday, June 9 - 8pm at Good Hurt
- Thursday, June 23 - 8:30pm at Good Hurt
Photo by Michael Kang
