THE AGE OF SINGER/SONGWRITERS RETURN… While we who survived
the Seventies the first time around, can breath a sigh of relief that
leisure suits and puka shell necklaces have not yet been resurrected, but
the music is very much back in vogue.
The flood of “garage
bands” like The Vines, The Strokes
and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs reflect
back to the very late ‘60s and early ‘70s, to groups who embodied that
sound because they literally had to play in their parents’ garages.
The current crop of
new “punk rockers” emerging
like S.T.U.N. have rebuffed the
“pop” aspect of bands like Good
Charlotte in favor of embracing the “anarchy”
stance of the genre’s ‘70s pioneers like the Sex
Pistols and Clash. Perhaps the biggest
‘70s trend in music today is turning on the radio and finding it awash
with the familiar strains sensitive singer/songwriter soft rock, of the
kind that permeated the “post-Watergate”
and “post-Vietnam” era of
thirty years ago.
Guys like Pete
Yorn, Howie Day, John Mayer and David
Gray are leading the pack of today’s acoustic army, just as guys
like Harry Chapin, Jim Croce,
Gordon Lightfoot and Lobo did back in the day.
Heck, there are even
lady singer/songwriters knee deep in the acoustic sound. Leading
the way is Norah Jones, the pop progeny of ‘70s cultural icon, Ravi
Shankar. Behind her are Michelle
Branch, Alice Peacock, Charlotte Martin, Anne Heaton
and others.
Scan the radio dial
and one will certainly find plenty of pleasant guitar-strumming, upon
which soothing lyrics are laid. The
sound is appeasing and pleasing to a generation that is stressed out about
economic uncertainty, global instability and war.
Adding to the whole
‘70s feeling are a flood of new albums and tours by authentic
Vietnam-era soft rock artists like Fleetwood
Mac, The Eagles and James
Taylor. Even the likes of Lynyrd
Skynyrd climbed back on the charts with a new acoustic ballad (“Red,
White And Blue”) as the ‘70s nostalgia craze continues to
accelerate. Bombarded by those old familiar images of war -- protesting, flag-burning and street violence -- a lot of people seem to be tuning out the more violent music like rap and nu-metal, which has dominated rock radio for years. They are embracing the Yorns, Grays and Mayers of the world, hoping to find solace in these uncertain times.
With acousti-rock back
in vogue and steadily on the rise, it is important to note that our region
has a fair share of singer/songwriter types who warrant the attention of
those music fans now finding favor with such soft-edged introspective
material.
Here are just a few
samples of personal favorites....
Join me on October 10
to rock with Michael at the Metropolitan Grand Ballroom as we strive to
raise much needed funds for the Lake
County Public Library Foundation.
Scottish McMillian, an amazing Chicago
songwriter with a penchant for intimate/intelligent lyrics, is a
multi-instrumentalist who excels on acoustic guitar. Powerful stuff performed with a jazzy, jam band approach.
One of the best of the best in Chicagoland is Al Rose, who performs solo and with his long-time backing band, The Transcendos. Rose is an exceptional wordsmith, with a penchant for Bob Dylan imagery, and music that generally has a decidedly country/folk vibe.
When Pete Berwick is not fronting the rip-roaring Americana group, The Renegades, he sits alone in the spotlight with an acoustic guitar, tattered denims and a cache of story songs about hard luck, ex-wives and rock ‘n’ roll dreams. Think Bruce Springsteen meets Steve Earle.
There are few singer/songwriters in this region with more determination and more heart than Northwest Indiana’s Steve Vansak. Vansak is not the cry in his beer “sensitive” type, but rather a spit in your eye “stand tall” type. Hoosier rock has not sounded this good since a certain Cougar roared out of Bloomington a quarter century ago.
The last on my list is Northwest Indiana duo, Acoustic
X, which consists of Chris
Sulcer and Darren Locasto.
Remarkably strong vocal harmonies deliver well-crafted songs
permeated with powerful
melody lines and colorful lyrics. These guys are a throwback to groups like America (“Horse
With No Name”/“Sister Golden Hair”) in that they are rockers
that employ pop sensibilities.
Beatlesque in an acoustic fashion, they have two CDs
-- Welcome To Malden and From
Otis With Love -- chock full of worthy original tunes.
These local acoustic artists mentioned thus
far are just the very tip of the creative iceberg... There are MANY other
original singer/songwriters of note. Guys like –– Josh
Holmes, Jef Sarver, Eric
Lambert, Chad Clifford, Jeremy Williams, Mike Gadjik, Ron Barany, Michael
& Chris Kalmas, and the Second
Hand Poets, among them.
There’s plenty of
talented acousti-rock ladies on the local scene as well -- Ripley Caine, Dawn Lynch and Dayna Marlow to
name a few – but that’s another column entirely!
I hope to see you October
18 @ Second Dimensions in Schererville for an acoustic set by a man who
is arguably one of the greatest Chicago singer/songwriters of our time
–– Jim Peterik.
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First
and foremost, we have Chicago’s Michael
McDermott, an incredible lyricist who puts his wounded heart on his
sleeve with every song he writes.
