Music Union : Live Your Music

A year and a half ago I got invited to Safari Sam’s to see a line-up of accordion players appropriately named, The Monsters of Accordion. (don’t ask)

It’s shocking, but the performances were pretty lame. And the accordion isn’t really my thing, you know. To top it off, the service at the place was so bad that my friend actually wrote the waitress a note for her to find— when she got around to our table that is, perhaps in February of 2077.

But the show had one saving grace. The only ray of light in this otherwise dismal evening was a musician named Mark Growden.

The second Mark took the stage and opened his mouth to give us the mournful tune Delilah, I knew, unlike the other performers that evening, the accordion wasn’t just a shtick. He could have been up there playing Star Spangled Banner on the kazoo and it wouldn’t have mattered—he was a fine musician. Enough said.

To illustrate his point, Mark picked up a set of amputated bicycle handlebars and played them like a ghetto style flute. Then he gave us a heartfelt cover of Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man that made every woman in the audience squirm. By the time the handsome Irishman was done, as the old saying goes—there wasn’t a dry seat in the house.

When the show was over, my friend and I stashed the waitress’s note under an empty water glass. I circled the merchandise tables, never quite worked up the nerve to introduce myself, then left the venue for home, and promptly forgot all about Mr. Growden.

In fact I had so completely forgotten about him, that when I got invited last Wednesday night to see him play at the Redwood, where the artist was finishing up a month long residency—I took one look at his website, saw some dude in a wife beater with an accordion, and said, no thanks. Sorry, but accordions aren’t my scene, man.

Anyway, I did figure out who he was of course, after a few minutes. Not just any guy with an accordion—but the guy with the accordion from Safari Sam’s. I love coincidences, and I love last minute adventures, so I threw on some jeans and trotted over to the ‘pirate’ bar on 2^nd to hear him play. And thank god I did, because it turned out that the previous show was just a sample, and approximately one tenth of Mark’s capabilities as an artist.

I got to the venue just as Mark was getting warmed up on his handlebars, and I heard the Redwood crowd behind me let out little “hmphs” of approval. I knew we were in for a treat.

Wait. I almost don’t want to spoil the surprise for you by describing the rest of his show. I wish you could discover Mark the way I did—randomly, in the most unlikely of places, like a diamond in the rough.

So I’ll keep it brief, and stick to the highlights.

Mark’s musical approach is novel—not novelty. He’s innovative. Like for instance his brilliant reverse cover of Aretha Franklin’s Never Loved a Man, on banjo. And his choice of strange folk instruments, some of which I still can’t find on Wikipedia. Let’s face it, not every musician can get up on stage with an accordion or a saxophone the size of Africa and not feel like an idiot.

He’s a foot stomper, and when he rallied the crowd for vocal support, we howled “take me to the water” not because he asked us to—but because we wanted to.

The cleverness never overshadows Mark’s sincerity. And by sincerity, I mean soul. For instance Mark’s ninth album St. Judas was recorded live, like a 50’s jazz album, giving his music the quality of a lovingly, painstakingly handmade gift. His songs speak of an interesting blend of influences, with some obvious clues to Mark’s upbringing as a preacher’s kid, the eldest of six, born in a small mountain town in Northern CA. There’s a little twang in there, and a whole lot of ‘amen’, but as Mark also said, he’d be nowhere without the inspiration of prison work songs, and classical composers like Stravinsky.

And of course, there’s the much-coveted Tom Waits comparison that I’ve seen thrown around a few times, and agree with.

But all this talk is a waste, because like I said, you really have to hear him play. And luckily he’s claiming LA as his new stomping grounds, so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to do so. Join us March 16^th at the Hotel Café for Mark’s official record release party for forthcoming album St. Judas. For more information about the artist, check out markgrowden.org

Cheers!

Shannon Logan