Six Strings, Ten Fingers: An interview with Lyle Brewer
The greater Boston area is flooded with great musicians. On this side of the river, if you stumble into any number of bars in Davis, Harvard, Central, Porter, and beyond you could see any number of incredible people playing incredible things on their respective instruments. Every so often though, someone really turns your head. For me, that guy was Lyle Brewer when I first saw him. Lyle is a very unassuming guy if you run into him off of the stage. Nice, a bit quiet, but personable as all hell. They he hits the stage and put a guitar in the guys hands and he unleashes. Versatility is this guy’s middle name. With a new record on the horizon (30 hours to go in his kickstarter…so pledge at the link below!), his ongoign weekly residency at Atwoods every Saturday, and a big solo show this evening at Club Passim the guy has been busy. But we were able to nail him down for a few to answer some questions about playing, performing, and just being a general badass (a nice badass, though)…
(courtesy of the artist)
So tell us a little about the new record
LB: So I will be recording it with the band that has been playing every Saturday at Atwoods for the last year. Which is Jef Charland on upright bass of the Blue Ribbons, Mike Piehl on drums. Mike and I have been playing together the last 8 or 9 years on my original project. And yeah, we are going to have a couple people come down and do overdubs, but the majority of it is going to be a trio. Recording at Dimension Sounds in JP
I hate to assume things, but I am guessing it’s going to be mainly guitar instrumentals.
LB: WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?! (sarcasm) . What kind of a person are you? (laughs). Yeah, it is. I have done 3 of those so far. The first one was in 2011 and was called “Music to my Fears”. Then I did “Wicked Live” which was traditional and country standards which we had been playing. And the last one was “Twangover” which was a bunch of my original arrangements of kind of like, standards that Chet Atkins and Merle Travis used to play. So yeah, I have been writing some songs over the last two years and I am going to mix in some solo guitar pieces that I am going to put in there. I am really excited to make an album of my original tunes again.
As an instrumental musician, when you are playing at a place like Passim that is really tapped into the poetry of songwriting or the craft of wordplay, do you find it difficult to find a crowd that “gets it” and appreciates the instrumental stuff. Not just locking into words or the “verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus” but feeling the emotion and the feeling you are able to communicate with a guitar?
(photo by Ryan Laurey)
LB: When I first booked my CD release there last year I was bit nervous that it wasn’t going to translate and I am not usually used to playing my instrumental stuff in quieter room. When I play solo though, I prefer playing at places like Club Passim when there are no drums or bass or anything. When its just me, you feel very exposed and I thrive on that. I think that having an audience that is used to wanting to engage like that, it really adds a lot to that kind of show. I am really excited to play there, I love playing there.
You mentioned the folks you play at Atwoods with every Saturday, are there any other folks in town you really enjoy? What are your thoughts on the “music community” around town?
LB: The great thing about living in Boston is that all the guitar players are so great. The standard is set really high. When I was first starting out, I guess I was 20, you got to just go and see Duke Levine for 5 bucks. I think the best guitar players in the world live here in town. You got Duke, and Kevin and Steve Sadler and Johnny Trauma. The thing that is so cool is that everyone is so good, but everyone has their own ‘thing’, their own voice. I am really fortunate to be able to live in a city where I can learn from all these guys. There is a real comraderie too, I don’t necessarily feel competition, everyone kind of has their own thing. Because everyone is so talented and good at their thing, they are confident and it’s really amazing. Its different when you go to LA or New York you know? I am used to getting to see some of the best musicians in the world play for 5 bucks! You get used to that here. Its just really cool, everyone has been really supportive of me and my guitar player. It’s a really great place to be a guitar player.
Anything local you are listening to that you think folks should be listening to?
LB: Actually, there is a guy opening the Passim show (10/6), his name is David Tanklefsky. Him and I were in a band together for a long time. I think he is one of the best singer/songwriters out there. His new album, Be Brave, is really great. I like his music a lot. The Blue Ribbons are always good. This guy Mark Pinaksky, he plays every Monday at the Plough. He is really great, I like his records (he has a lot of them, he churns them out). Hmmm, who else? It’s funny, my favorite bands are artists are like Chris Trapper, and Dub Apocalypse, and Pantera, and Ella Fitzgerald. All over the place. It’s hard to narrow down. Duke Levine has a new record coming out, I am excited to hear that.
What do you enjoy playing most on guitar? Some nights you dig the chicken pickin’ I IV V stuff, and another you get technical and jazzy.
LB: I have been doing a jazz brunch for the last year at the Foundry in Davis Square and it’s been really cool to kind of reconnect with jazz. When I went to New England Conservatory when I was 19, it was a very overwhelming experience. It kind of turned my world upside down. It’s an intense kind of environment., Recently I have been able to get back into jazz, but as a more mature, professional musician. All the things I used to worry about when I was 19 I don’t worry about. So yeah, I have been on a big jazz kick the past 6-12 months. I don’t necessary feel like playing jazz, or country, or blues. I don’t think about it as different kinds of music or genres…its just kind of all music. As long as the material is strong and the other musicians are engaged, it doesn’t matter what I am playing.
Check out Lyle’s Kickstarter, his lessons online (which are pretty amazing) and check him out TONIGHT October 6th at Club Passim.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1564766315/lyle-brewers-new-album
