Tag: Jackson Browne

The Load-Out — Jackson Browne Tribute Show to Benefit Livonia’s Trinity House Theatre on April 27

Mark Jewett holds Trinity House Theatre in high regard.

The Plymouth, Michigan singer-songwriter values the intimate Livonia music venue and its longtime support of independent artists.

“I really appreciate what they do for the music community—for listeners and performers,” said Jewett, who’s performed six times at Trinity House Theatre.

“While locals get to perform there, and a lot of regional and national artists as they’re passing through, they’re quite accommodating, and it operates entirely on a volunteer support basis.”

Given that ongoing support, Jewett wanted to give back to the nonprofit theatre and spotlight its 26 years of hosting live music.

He quickly landed on organizing a benefit show, which would donate all ticket proceeds to the theatre and highlight the music of Jackson Browne.

“Over the years, they’ve had at least one annual show to help support the theatre,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people who feel that appreciation and many of them are in the show.”

Billed as Trinity House Benefit: Celebrating the Music of Jackson Browne, the April 27 show will feature an array of Michigan singer-songwriters, including Jeff Scott, Jan Krist, Jill Jack, Annie Capps, Charlie and Sherry Springer, Steve Taylor, Phil Maq, Mike Ward, Bob Sky Young, Jewett, and others, performing songs from Browne’s extensive catalog.

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Folk Visionaries – Alice Howe, Freebo to Perform Friday at Ann Arbor’s Black Crystal Cafe

Alice Howe will make her Black Crystal Cafe live debut Friday in Ann Arbor with Freebo. Photo by Robert M. Ring

With a new tour and full-length debut album, Alice Howe will bring her 2020 vision to Ann Arbor’s Black Crystal Café Friday.

The Boston singer-songwriter will make her first live appearance at the intimate 48-seat music club with world-renowned bassist Freebo, who’s performed with Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr, Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

“Freebo and I have been working together for the last three years. He produced my last record, ‘Visions,’ which came out in May of last year, and he and I have been touring together a lot. For this show, we’re billing it as he will be my special guest, so he’ll do an opening set, and then he’ll back me on the bass,” said Howe about her set with Freebo for Friday’s sold-out show.

“It’s really fun because I get to sing harmonies on his songs, and it’s a really collaborative thing that we’ve put together that just works out really well for both of us. We’re excited to take that to Black Crystal.”

Howe forged a fateful partnership with Freebo nearly four years ago at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference. After meeting and chatting with him, she went through her record collection at home and discovered his musical collaborations with Raitt, Young and a host of other rock legends.

“That was a very cool moment for me where I realized, ‘Wow, I’ve met somebody,’ and we had a lot in common as far as our taste in music and production styles and singing styles and all this stuff was so in line with each other,” Howe said. “I grew up listening to the era of music that he really came up under, so for me to meet somebody from that time was like, ‘Oh my god, I felt like he was sent to me.’”

Having Musical ‘Visions’

Those similarities quickly led Howe to enlist Freebo as her musical mentor, collaborator and producer for “Visions,” a 10-track, introspective folk-blues expedition filled with striking originals and smashing covers from Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan. It’s a gorgeous extension of her 2017 debut folk EP, “You’ve Been Away So Long.”

For “Visions,” Howe relocated from Boston to Bakersfield, Calif., to record her full-length debut with Freebo, Fuzzbee Morse (electric guitar), John “JT” Thomas (keys) and John Molo (percussion). In fact, her creative expedition begins with the nature-inspired “Twilight” and includes a much-needed Michigan winter sonic escape to a serene world dotted with dirt roads, sunlight, ocean and trees.

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‘Painkillers’ – Brian Fallon’s Title Track Gives Small Dose of Escapement

It only takes a small needle to make the pain go away.

No, I’m not talking about a hypodermic needle, but a record needle. There’s a calm sense of euphoria that washes over me when I hear a needle drop delicately on a vinyl record.

At that moment, I can leave the present day and escape briefly into a new world the artist has personally created with his music and lyrics.

In a sense, I’m taking a quick journey into the mind of someone I’ve never met and imagining life through his eyes. It’s akin to personifying the emotions of Joy, Fear and Sadness in the 2015 Pixar animated film, “Inside Out.”

I can picture all three emotions running through Brian Fallon’s head when he sings “Painkillers,” the title track off The Gaslight Anthem frontman’s new solo album, which dropped March 11.

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