John Sebastian to perform in Frankfort

by walter tunis — Contributing Music Writer

Posted: 9:43am on Oct 8, 2009; Modified: 5:46am on Apr 18, 2011

  • THE WEEK THAT WAS

    Mary Chapin Carpenter at Equus Run Vineyards: There remained, even in the more assertive songs that Mary Chapin Carpenter performed, a conversational air that beckoned the crowd to put down the wine glasses and listen closely. When the music became as chilled as the evening temps, a luminous autumnal spirit, complete with a brilliant full moon as an overhead ornament, prevailed. The title tune to 1995's album Stones in the Road was delivered with pensive grace. Twilight, a comparative obscurity from 2007's The Crossing, unfolded with a lovely mantralike chorus. And All the Sad Songs, one of two new works performed from an album that Carpenter will begin recording later this month, glided along with an effortless yet poetic melancholy that has long been an earmark of her best work. There were airs of playfulness, too. The guitar hook on I Take My Chances morphed just enough for Carpenter to insert, of all things, broken verses from Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. And even though her full band was absent, Carpenter's trio ensemble managed to convincingly substitute hearty Americana twang for Cajun-ization on the show-closing encore of Down at the Twist and Shout.

    Silversun Pickups, Manchester Orchestra and Cage the Elephant at Buster's: First up on this indie-rock triple bill was Bowling Green's Cage the Elephant, a feisty punk-pop band that served numerous retro muses. A taste of early-'60s Stones surfaced here, a blast of Iggy Pop countered there. Matt Schultz's singing on romps like In One Ear reflected a punkish immediacy, but the band's 45-minute set was surprisingly full of pop appeal. Manchester Orchestra's following set was ripe with insular intensity and spiritual fire ignited by the high, tense singing of Andy Hull on I've Got Friends. Whereas Cage the Elephant presented its music as a sort of participatory brawl, Manchester Orchestra, despite the spiritual crunch, seemed remote. Rounding out the evening was Los Angeles' Silversun Pickups and a set of more pop-conscious, post-New Wave fare. Tunes like Sort Of succumbed to static grooves as Brian Aubert's singing and rudimentary rhythm guitar phrasings were buried in a mix that oddly favored bass and drums. The melodic hooks were hearty, but much of the set simply seemed to drag.

John Sebastian

7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at The Grand Theatre, 308 St. Clair St. in Frankfort. $25, $40. (502) 352-7469. www.grandtheatrefrankfort.org.

We can't let 2009 slip away without at least one Woodstock veteran playing in Central Kentucky. But honestly, when one thinks of the famed music gathering that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, John Sebastian might not be the first name that springs to mind.

Sebastian? Wasn't he the cheery voice behind The Lovin' Spoonful's hits of the '60s (Summer in the City, Do You Believe in Magic)? Wasn't he the Welcome Back guy in the '70s? Well, yes. He also has a recording and performance career that spans nearly 45 years and that is full of all kinds of overlooked triumphs.

The delights began almost as soon as The Lovin' Spoonful disbanded in 1968. Woodstock, of course, came a year later, as did collaborations with a host of West Coast celebs. For example, that's Sebastian whaling away on harmonica on The Doors' hit Roadhouse Blues.

The first and finest of his solo recordings, John B. Sebastian, followed in 1970. A new listen to a CD edition of the recording, issued in 2006, reveals a wider stylistic spectrum than even the broad pop palette used by the Spoonful. Soul, folk and surprisingly traditional country yarns dominate the record, although the lightness of Sebastian's singing gives the far-reaching material an appealing and singular sound. A leaner but no less varied sampler surfaced on Sebastian's true underdog album, 1974's Tarzana Kid.

All of that brings us to the past decade, which saw Sebastian inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Spoonful). There also have been further explorations of the jug-band sound that was one of the Spoonful's most formative influences, and collaborations with mandolin great David Grisman.

Sebastian is quite the enterprising artist onstage as well. So expect a big chunk of his expansive pop career to get covered when he performs Friday night at Frankfort's newly renovated Grand Theatre.

Another Crowe show

If you're familiar with the local performance history of Grammy-winning bluegrass banjo great J.D. Crowe, you know his bands were regular fixtures in music clubs in the late '60s and '70s, from his days playing with a young Doyle Lawson at the North Limestone haunt known as Martin's to the famed residency with his first New South band at the Holiday Inn North on Newtown Pike. Crowe remains a highly visible bluegrass presence in the region, even though the majority of his performances tend to be at festivals. Friday night, he heads back indoors with his newest New South lineup for a performance at Cosmic Charlie's. The club opened last month at the former Lynagh's Music Club location, 388 Woodland Avenue. (8 p.m., $20. (859) 309-9499.)

Béla redux

Fellow banjo colossus Béla Fleck also is back in the bluegrass with another traveling musical adventure. Having performed jazz duets with pianist Chick Corea, fusion and funk with The Flecktones and African roots music with Toumani Diabate in the past 20 months, Fleck reteams Friday night with bassist Edgar Meyer, a longtime musical pal, and the extra ordinary tabla artist Zakir Hussain. The trio will play the worldly string and percussion music from their new album, The Melody of Rhythm, at the Brown Theatre, 315 West Broadway in Louisville. (8 p.m.; $25-$60, 1-800-775-7777. www.kentuckycenter.org.)

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