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PRgirl
Junior Member
39 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Mar 2009 : 10:58:59 AM
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Friday March 27
The Historic Blairstown Theatre
30 Main Street Blairstown NJ
Show time 8:00 PM doors 7:30
Tickets $20 in advance $25 at the door
908-362-1399
www.historicblairstowntheatre.com
artist on the web:www.steveforbert.com
www.nealcasal.com
The Place and The Time is the record Steve Forbert Fans have been waiting for.
From the first sound of the clear and ringing acoustic guitar that introduces Black
Bird Tune – a wistful ode to finding beauty in ‘a chimney top town’ - it’s evident
that his listeners are in for something special.
The Place and The Time – Forbert’s compelling follow up to Strange Names &
New Sensations, his 2007 album on 429 Records – is full of the kind of down to
earth songs with heartfelt vocals and engaging melodies that define his best work.
It is an especially endearing set of songs that celebrate and recapture the magic of
the mid 70’s sound that made his early hits so appealing.
As ever, it is Forbert’s deep, slow-as-molasses drawl that first invites the listener
into his confidence as he continues a conversation with his fans that began over
thirty years ago. Each of these new songs emerges from an unhurried place and
time as Forbert’s music continues to casually draw people into his vision and the
world-view he presents to anyone who cares to listen.
Lyrically, the stories Forbert unfolds on The Place and The Time continue to
follow the arc of his recorded work that - from the beginning - has focused on an
exploration of the different phases of a person’s life. If his first album, Alive on
Arrival was a celebration of the freedom of youth and the promise of early
adulthood, and his 1992 album The American in Me was a dignified exploration of
accepting life’s responsibilities, The Place and The Time – like its predecessor
Strange Names and New Sensations – is an understated and unflinching look at
survival and the joys and problems of middle age.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this new collection of songs is how Forbert
succeeds in the difficult task of sounding natural and off the cuff while still
respecting the craft and toil that goes into producing a well constructed song.
“From the beginning of my career,” Forbert explains, “I’ve always been about the
songs. However,the songs can’t fully exist on paper. It’s the recording that
people actually hear. That makes for another kind of challenge. In this role I relate
to (legendary producer) Jerry Wexler. I’m the person picking the songs who has a
vision of what the end result oughta be, but needs the collaborative talents of
others to help me get there.”
For this project, Steve Forbert enlisted Robby Turner as his co-producer to help him
achieve the distinctive period sound he was searching for. Forbert explains, “I’ve
been trying on the last few projects to make a bona fide 70s singer songwriter
record. I’d say I’ve accomplished this most completely with Robby’s help on The
Place And The Time. We went for a simpler production that allowed for a bit more
space in the sound. He understood that I was inclined back towards that era of
James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, America and Seals and Crofts.”
It only takes one listen of The Place and The Time to realize that Forbert has
achieved the sound he was searching for – in spades. For perhaps the first time,
the music Forbert conjures up to support his songs is just as compelling as the
stories they tell.
The decision to bring his core touring group into the studio with him – Paul Errico
(keyboards) Steve Allen (electric guitar) and Bobby Lloyd Hicks (drums) – helped
amplify the feeling of loose confidence that characterizes each of the songs on the
album.
To achieve the sound he was looking for, Forbert enlisted some special guests
including backing vocalist Bekka Bramlett, acoustic guitarist Anthony Crawford,
cellist Jenny Lynn Young and legendary electric guitarist Reggie Young, who played
on such enduring classics as “Son Of A Preacher Man,” “Slip Away,” “Suspicious
Minds,” “In The Ghetto” and many Willie Nelson favorites like “The City of New
Orleans”. His distinctive guitar tone is one of The Place and The Time’s many
sonic treats as Young evokes classic R and B sounds while still serving the songs in
the here and now. In addition to handling co-production duties, Robby Turner
(who played steel guitar on Strange Names and New Sensations) makes
essential contributions on bass, six string bass, national steel guitar, keyboards
and backing vocals.
The title of the album comes from a line in “Sing It Again, My Friend”, a song that
expresses a longing for a reconnection with a more idealistic time of life. Other
tracks such as the wistful soft rocker “Who’ll Watch The Sun Set?” (which
showcases Young’s crisp guitar textures) evoke a similar desire for a simpler place
and time while the folky “Clear, Blue Sky” with its fleeting glimpse of childhood
lost stands out as one of the set’s loveliest songs.
“Simply Must Move On” and “Hang on Till the Sun Shines” cover familiar thematic
territory as life in all of its joys and hardships are communicated in simple
yearning lyrics and melodies that hit the mark every time.
Fans of Forbert’s rocking side will enjoy the handclapping, back porch blues vibe of
“Labor Day ‘08” and the zydeco tinged “Stolen Identity” in which the singer asks
‘what have I done?, where have I been?’ as he humorously explores one of the
downsides of life in a credit card culture. The irony of the lyrics in “The Beast of
Ballyhoo (Rock Show)” with its sly rumbling ruminations on the arena rock
experience won’t be lost on long time Forbert fans.
The elegant and charming “Blackbird Tune” which Forbert wrote after hearing a
bird singing in East Yorkshire paves the way for his raw and engaging cover of
Clarence Ashley’s “The Coo Coo Bird.” This song – more than any other in the set
– establishes Forbert’s link in an unbroken chain of American song craft. This
classic of ‘old weird America’ that most people heard for the first time on Harry
Smith’s Folkways compilation “Anthology of American Folk Music” has been
covered by artists from Taj Mahal to Janis Joplin, and was referenced by Bob Dylan
on his 2001 album “Love and Theft.” The other cover tune is “Building Me A Fire”
an energetic rootsy number written by a young Philadelphia songwriter named
Devin Greenwood.
Growing up in Meridian, Steve Forbert first picked up the guitar at age 10 and
spent his high school years playing in a variety of local bands. Frustrated with his
job as a truck driver, the restless singer/songwriter moved to New York City at 21,
where he performed for spare change in Grand Central Station before working his
way up through the Manhattan club circuit. Performing at Folk City and eventually
opening for artists like Talking Heads and John Cale at CBGB, Forbert became
something of a local sensation and signed his first record deal with the CBSdistributed
label Nemperor.
Released at the height of the new wave explosion, his 1978 debut Alive On
Arrival offered a first look at his colorful mix of spare acoustic introspection and
scrappy rock ‘n’ roll and became one of the year's most acclaimed albums. While
critics tagged him—like Bruce Springsteen and John Prine before him—“the next
Dylan,” Forbert never put too much stock in the comparison and forged his own
path, expanding his audience substantially with 1979’s commercial breakthrough
Jackrabbit Slim and his era defining hit single, “Romeo's Tune.”
By this time, the heyday of the classic 70s singer- songwriters was quickly fading.
Songs by America, Carole King, James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot were quickly
giving way on the pop charts to Van Halen, Foreigner and Pat Benatar. As the
seventies gave way to the eighties, Forbert’s plainspoken, heartfelt early
recordings were among the few keeping the joyful and innocent spirit of the genre
alive.
Given the mythic nature of Forbert’s early career, one can be forgiven for wondering what he’s
done since parting company with Geffen Records after they released The American in Me in
1992. The fact is that Steve Forbert has never stopped writing, singing and performing and
has released twelve studio albums, three live sets and four DVDs since 1978 - to say nothing
of the several compilations and archival releases that are available through his website
(www.steveforbert.com) The freedom to release music when he chooses to and follow his own
muse without having to cowtow to the fickle whims of musical fashion has ironically resulted in
his creating albums like Evergreen Boy, Mission of The Crossroad Palms and Strange
Names and New Sensations that must surely be considered amongst the best releases of
his career.
As the years pass, the indefinable honesty and dignity of Forbert’s approach to
music continues to have an almost magical spell on his small but loyal coterie of
fans. Undeniably, there is something immensely appealing in his laconic delivery
and hesitant assertions which still draw listeners into a universe where common
people make difficult choices and occasionally win. (as was proven when Forbert
was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2006.)
Finally, Steve Forbert in 2009 is a songwriter who not only appears comfortable
with his place in life but who also — like the narrator of his early tune Steve
Forbert’s Midsummer Night’s Toast — still rejects a nine-to-five existence in favor
of hewing to his own road-less-traveled.
“Music should be truthful and real,” Forbert once said, “but it should also be
uplifting and healing.” That’s a philosophy he’ll be honoring throughout 2009 as he
continues his very personal and spirited relationship with a loyal fan base that is
growing old gracefully along with its favorite troubadour.
Complete lyrics to The Place and The Time can be found at www.steveforbert.com
Text: Douglas Heselgrave 2009
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Steve Forbert with special guest Neal Casal
