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You hear a lot about local musicians splitting the scene for greener pastures. But you don’t often hear it happening the other way around. Bertrand Laurence, a French finger-style acoustic guitarist and songwriter, ditched Boston and headed south. “Four years ago my wife Suzi Lee and I were looking for a French school for our two-year-old daughter, and a house we could afford,” he explains. “None of that was possible in Massachusetts.”
But they did find what they were looking for in Providence: a fixer-upper place and the French American School of Rhode Island. “So far, we’ve found Providence very welcoming.”
Laurence, an acoustic fingerpicking guitarist fluent in a vast spectrum of American guitar styles, has also rediscovered his music career locally. Currently, he teaches guitar, plays as a solo act, gigs with the Parisian swing/ Musette trio called Manège à Trois, and works with Everett Dance Theatre as music director, vocal coach, and onstage guitarist for their Friday Night Live series. “An FNL show is like good rock ’n’ roll used to be: dangerously unpredictable and the electricity of the moment stays with you.”
It’s this intimate interconnectedness that has drawn Laurence and his considerable talents to Providence. “That’s what I love about this city,” he says. “People seem to take a little more time to be human and communicate directly to each other than in Boston. This might be just the higher quality of life that comes with a smaller town, but I do believe Rhode Island in general nurtures a warmer, more relaxed free-thinking culture.”Bertrand Laurence + John Thibodeau & Barry Brown | February 10 | Blackstone River Theatre, 549 Broad St, Cumberland | 401.725.9272
Guitar Man
It’s been seven long years since we’ve heard anything from KRAIG JORDAN AND THE MASONS. The band’s last album, Change Me Back, came out in 1999, an event that occurred a marriage and two children ago. Since then, aside from all the diapers and baby bottles, Jordan has also been busy with musical matters. He built a legitimate recording studio, did some production work, and wrote a ton of songs, the best of which appear on his new album, Let You Down Easy.
“Since the last album and the assembly of the studio,” says Jordan, “I was writing and recording a lot of songs. I narrowed it down to 14 from about 35 and then started working on finishing them.” A chance meeting with Mark McDougal from the 75 or Less label, who said he’d love to release Jordan’s next record, supplied him with the enthusiasm to see the project through. “That was the final catalyst for me to finish the record.”
Jordan demoed the material and then sent it around to his cabal of collaborators, which this time included Medicine Ball’s Don Sanders, Eric Fontana, Jeffrey Underhill, Sarah Lupo, and Dave Wall. Dave Narcizo and Jack McKenna played all the drums. “I would record some basic track idea of a song and then give it to people I thought would want to play on it,” he says. “This really helped to bring subtleties out of songs that I don’t think I would have harnessed on my own.”
He then tag-teamed the project with Scott Rancourt, formerly of Dream Edit and now Brickhaus, for fine-tuning and a little bass. “Scott is an amazing engineer and I learn more about the recording and mixing process every time I work with him.”
For the band’s release party, Kraig has assembled a luminous local lineup, including Wall on guitars, Underhill on keys, and Narcizo on drums. “With such a great band, I can focus on the vocals which are essential in a live show,” he says.
The Masons + Minky Starshinne & The New Cardinals | February 10 | Jake’s, 373 Richmond St, Providence | 401.453.5253
The Pick Of Destiny
Shorebreak at the Pier in Narragansett will host MATT HARTKE’s CD release party on Friday, February 9. His debut, Great Good Fortune, is a wistful acoustic pop record in the surf vein of Jack Johnson. Hartke is a confident talent with lots of appeal and, a date with, uh, destiny? “A psychic told me that I’d be famous in two years,” he says, only half-joking. “I didn’t sleep for two days, energy was rushing through my body. Pretty soon everything started falling into place and it feels like things are lining up pretty well.” The show starts at 9 pm with opening acts Jim Wolf and Daniel Chase. Call 401.783.1022.
Wandering Eye
As we speak, Providence noise riot DAUGHTERS is getting off their first ever Japan tour, which included four dates in Tokyo, in support of their debut full-length Hell Songs. When they get back home they’ll head out again with CHINESE STARS, a sonic victory lap representing the city’s dark side. That tour starts on March 5, then they’ll hit SXSW for a pair of dates, and get in the van again, with THE LOCUST and CATTLE DECAPITATION. Go to wearedaughters.com for more input.
BIG WORLD hits the Living Room on Friday between APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION (a Guns ’N Roses tribute) and VICIOUS RATTLES. Call 401.521.5200. Country roots songwriter JASON WILDER EVANS won a grant from RISCA and has put together a series of shows billed as “A Concert Series Benefiting Rhode Island’s Underserved Communities,” which will take place at nursing and retirement homes in the area. The first is on Tuesday, February 13 at the Village at Elmhurst Providence. Checkwww.jasonwilderevans.com for more details. BUZZ MEADE, a singer-songwriter from Wisconsin, will perform at the Penalty Box on Valentine’s Day, February 14. Call 401.331.8545.
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Bob Gulla:bobgulla@verizon.net
