New England Americana 2014 Artist Feature: Evan Gavry
Evan Gavry is the type of musician that you want on your side. The guy plays multiple instruments and excels at them all, sings, and has his heart pouring into this community. This year he stepped up big time and is involved with the NEAF on a planning level…but aside from that has some deep roots in the Boston Music community as well. Playing guitar with Three Day Threshold and with his own new duo with Laura Jean Dargus, plus sit ins with friends. HE will be doing just that on Friday night at Passim, when the committee have their own “in the round” set to kick off the evening. Be sure to get their early as you will not want to miss out on what Evan throws down. We caught up with him to do the old Q and A…check it out.
1) “Americana” has become the go to term for arguably every genre under the sun. How you do feel you as an artist falls under that umbrella? Where do you pull your inspiration from? What is the style of music that you most closely relate to?
EG: I take inspiration from anywhere I can find it. My dad took me to a lot of bluegrass festivals growing up, and that scene exposed me to a lot of the inner workings of how popular music in this country has evolved and hybridized different styles from around the world. I constantly think about where what I’m hearing or writing falls on that historical sprectrum, but I also don’t have any qualms about jumping all over the place to pull inspiration out of all styles and eras at once. The stuff that stands the test of time for me sounds best booming out of a jukebox at a smoky poolhall, and that’s a pretty broad cross-section for me. I get the hairy eyeball from bartenders and other patrons all the time over my jukebox selections, but I’ve grown a pretty thick skin about it over the years.
2) New England Americana and the Fest firmly plant their roots and morals in “community” and attempting to bring that community together in this big once a year event. The event is a culmination of a community of musicians and artists that is going on all year in other forums and gigs and so forth. What does that community mean to you and how does it effect you as an artist?
EG: It directly affects me as an artist, because those are the people whose shows I want to be at, and the people I call when I want to put a show of my own together. The town I’m from has a much more fragmented and less supportive scene and that’s a huge part of why I settled in Boston. When you can go and see so much great music live, and even talk to and get to know some of the key practicioners, it opens up your idea of what you yourself are capable of; your friends become your inspirations and vice versa.
3) Music festivals, in general, are fairly well known for surprise sit ins, improvisational jams and collaborations. If you could see any two of this year’s acts collaborate on stage at this year’s NEA Festival, who would you like to see?
EG: I think Tigerman Woah! would pretty radically reinvent any collaboration they found themselves in, I’d like to see any of those guys paired up with some of the other acts.
4) What local releases are you listening to right now that you think folks should be listening to as well? Any independent acts that really make you say “wow”? Friends that you want a broader audience to dig into?
EG: Dan Blakeslee’s new album is great, though admittedly I haven’t heard the whole thing in sequence yet, which is how I prefer to check out new material. Ryan Lee Crosby is a friend who does a great deep-blues revival sound that I’d love to turn people on to, and anything that Sonny Jim Clifford shows up on is guaranteed to be tasty.
5) So, what do you have coming up either before or after the festival? Any shameless plugs you want to make whether it be shows, recordings, or anything at all?
EG: Dark Don’t Catch Me Here, my duo with Laura Jean Dargus, is writing new material and booking some gigs for later this fall, so find us on that ubiquitous social network to get all the news from DDCMH. Three Day Threshold (with whom I sing and play lap steel) is also writing and recording new material and playing dates throughout the fall. Really I want to urge people to take a chance on bands they don’t know; any given night of the week, there’s something cool going on and you’re missing out if you don’t open yourself up to it. Some of my favorite shows have been the ones where I’ve wandered in the door because I heard music drifting into the street and been blown away by someone who wasn’t even on my radar. If people remember that live music is always available to those who seek it, life can only get better for the audience and the artists alike.
