Banjo virtuoso Alison Brown to headline Opera House Aug. 13
Grammy-winning artist and Compass Records co-founder Alison Brown is bringing the banjo out of the backwoods and giving the instrument room to shine. The Nashville recording artist will bring her quartet to the Boothbay Opera House on Aug. 13 for her first ever performance in the area. With her new Compass project, The Song of the Banjo, the 2015 IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award musician/composer/producer/entrepreneur plants another flag in her ongoing journey of sonic exploration.
“My crusade with the banjo is to make people realize how much they love the instrument,” said Brown from her office in Nashville. “It’s not only good for accompanying high-speed car chases and bank robberies.”
Connecticut-born and San Diego-raised, Brown cut her teeth in the nascent bluegrass scene of Southern California in the 1990s. The movement spawned such acts as Nickel Creek, standard bearers for a pop/bluegrass fusion which helped pave the way for such acts as Mumford and Sons. While not trying to entirely re-brand the banjo, Brown does see the value and wisdom in tuning into the masses.
“Familiar music allows folks to understand an instrument that they may not be overly familiar with. The banjo is a complex instrument, with melodic ideas normally surrounded by rapid fire arpeggiate chords, but when you play a familiar tune it allows the audience to more clearly hear the voice of the instrument, and to understand how the playing style is integrated into, and around, the melody.”
According to Brown, her signature sound stems from the modifications she’s made to her signature model Prucha 5-string, muting the usual harsher overtones and extraneous noises, emphasizing the sweetness and melodicism.
For her new album, she and Compass co-founder, husband and bassist Garry West have assembled an all-star cast, including some of Nashville’s most adventurous session players, as well as special guests Indigo Girls, Keb’ Mo’, label mate Colin Hay, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, legendary drummer Steve Gadd, fiddler Stuart Duncan, resophonic guitarist Rob Ickes, upright bassist Todd Philips and, on guitar and bouzouki, Irish phenom John Doyle.
Of the 12 tracks on The Song of the Banjo, seven are Brown’s and choices for cover songs include Orleans’ soft-rocker “Dance With Me,” Cyndi Lauper’s modern pop classic “Time After Time” and instrumental chart-topper Chuck Mangione’s “Feel So Good.”
“Time After Time” is particularly stunning. “It just lays out so beautifully on the banjo,” said Brown. “And I figure if it was good enough for Miles Davis it’s good enough for me.”
A Harvard graduate with an MBA, Brown revels in the tradition of the uniquely American instrument and its role in shaping our national musical landscape. At one point it was far from the domain of hillbillies in high suspenders.
“It was the most popular instrument in the 1800s,” said Brown. “It was ubiquitous and to have a banjo in your Victorian parlor was like having a car in your garage now. It was the hip thing. Young middle class women were encouraged to play them because it was considered to be very proper. There were banjo orchestras playing music derived from the classical world.”
People can also expect to see more of her family; her children join her onstage and the concert is geared toward all ages.
“The show lets the light shine on the banjo and they can see what a versatile instrument it is,” said Brown. “We try to keep people very well entertained.”
