Greg Brown...My Hero.

Recently I went to see my favorite singer/song writer Greg Brown. It was a big night for me. I have been listening to this guy for a long time and I have never seen him in concert. Auntie Chris babysat while Dan and I made our way to Carrboro to attend the concert.

The first thing we noticed when we walked into the Cat’s Cradle was the rows of folding chairs covering the main floor and even up in the side and back “decks.” I have been to the Cat's Cradle many times and have never seen chairs. I prepared myself for a pretty sedate evening. Dan and I got our seats about 20 minutes before the show (directly in front of Greg’s chair) and commenced the important and oh, so entertaining people watching part of concert going. Full beards and plaid flannel shirts made a strong showing. Middle aged women in attractive but sensible sweaters donned the arms of the bearded professor types. Dan and I saw many funky hats: gatsbys, knitted caps and one amazing white furry hat that was ridiculously out of place but that I really wanted to pet as the lady passed by. Despite the fact that with the exception of Dan’s full beard we really didn’t fit in with the crowd the vibe was friendly, albeit academic, and it didn’t matter to me anyway, because I was ready to see Greg!

Bo Ramsey opened the show with a few down home numbers. I have never heard his solo stuff. It is obvious that Bo and Greg have been playing together for years. His music was heavily influenced, but leaned a little more to the blues side. He had a great song about the town drunk who died in a car accident. He played in an open tuning (probably G) and used a slide. He was fun to watch because as he really got into his song he would turn his head from side to side as if he was thinking “no, no, NO!” in his head. Actually, it was kind of distracting after awhile. He played for about 30 minutes. When he finished I had to wait 30 more minutes until Greg came on. It was unbearable!

At 9pm Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey walked onto the stage and Greg sat down with his guitar. He played some new songs and then started talking. He talked about the state of the world and his church. (I think he said he and his wife are Pentecostal). Then he sang a new song about the ineffectiveness of our government and the tragedy of the war. He was obviously preaching to the choir, which made it even more fun!

It struck me that Greg was looking old and a little pudgy, but his voice was soulful and warm and his song writing was as wry and insightful as ever.

He sang one of my favorite songs, Just by Myself. And he played two encores, as we wouldn’t let him leave the stage. It was great.

I had a few too many beers (only four but I hadn’t eaten dinner) so Dan drove us home and I talked about music the whole way home…or until I passed out 15 minutes into the drive home.
Greg Brown has a new album out, The Evening Call but I haven’t heard it yet. If you are interested I would recommend the following to give you a good idea of what Greg Brown does: One Night... (1983), The Poet Game (1994), The Live One (1995), Slant Six Mind (1997) but all of them are amazing.