Wednesday the 6th I motivated myself to head down to Tazza Cafe for their twice monthly acoustic night, Writers in the Round. Hosted the first and third Wednesday of every month, it features four local songwriters trading tunes for an evening of stellar music. I arrived earlier than expected, I was actually making haste on my way as I thought I was going to be late, upon realizing the song writer’s were still sound checking and hashing out some details I sought a familiar face in Daniel Chase. We had met at Record Store Day, and informed me of the night, he noticed me first and we stuck up a conversation. Between his introductions and my own I was able to meet all the gentlemen playing that evening and chat a bit, I ordered myself a sandwich and relaxed before the music. The songwriters for the evening consisted of Chris Rosenquest, Kris Hansen, Nicky P, and Daniel Chase. It was apparent some of these gentlemen have been at this a while, and know each other quite well, plenty of good natured ribbing happening as they took to the stage.
Rosenquest was the master of ceremonies for the evening and introduced each performer to the crowd before breaking into his first song. I believe it was called “Oh Mama,” obviously stressing his vocal styling and lyrics the song had very slight guitar work. Having a unique voice, he accentuated it with quiet strums and delicate plucks. As he was wrapping up his first song I grabbed my camera to capture Kris Hansen’s first number, possibly “What the Lord Had Intended for Me”:
05.06.09 Kris Hansen “What the Lord Had Intended for Me”
Immediately I knew I was in for a good night, both songwriters had drastically different styles, Hansen’s song focused more on rapid strums with chord changes, and a catchy chorus. Getting into the groove, Rosenquest provided some guitar taps for percussion, and a few guitar licks to help add more body to the song, it was a welcomed touch. Nicky P took over for the next song, how own “California Sunrise:”
05.06.09 Nicky P “California Sunrise”
Utilizing good strum patterns while throwing in some quick riffs, I thought Nicky P was the most impressive on the guitar for the evening, with a strong folksy voice, he sang poetically as well. Daniel Chase played the next song, guessing it’s called “So Beautiful (You Should be Mine):”
05.06.09 Daniel Chase “So Beautiful (You Should be Mine)”
A romantic piece, Daniel sang it soulfully and delicately. Halfway through Nicky P jumped in with some well placed lead riffs. All night I was enjoying how each performer was lending their skills to another’s song filling them our further, and giving it a great friendly feeling. Each songwriter had a chance to showcase their own work, and having come full circle I was ready to record Rosenquest’s second song on the evening, could be called “False Heart”:
05.06.09 Chris Rosenquest “False Heart”
Touting it as another new one, he broke into another great folk number. Again his song focused more on his vocal style and lyrics, but the guitar work was much more audible with intricate finger picking patterns this time around, using the empty space in the guitar tones for lyrical stresses. Following the rotation, Kris Hansen took the next number:
05.06.09 Kris Hansen “No More”
Again with a rapid strum rhythm and quick chord changes, Kris sang this one with a bit more passion, and catchy guitar tones. Slowing the song down a bit at the end, helped release the passion in the song and bring it to a close. Nicky P took the next song, playing one about his upstairs neighbor, “Lady Above Me:”
05.06.09 Nicky P original “Lady Above Me”
Sang with his country folk vocals again, this song was a bit humorous and a bit serious, and impressed with his guitar work, as well as timing change. I think we’ve all lived in an apartment you can hear half of whats going on above you, and wonder whats happening. Daniel Chase played the next one I think it’s called “Save You,” choosing another beautiful sentimental, romantic piece, had the cafe been packed with ladies, they surely would have swooned:
05.06.09 Daniel Chase “Save You”
It seemed that Daniel was the newest addition to Writers in the Round, the other musicians all seemed to be somewhat familiar with each other’s material, while it seemed they were checking out Daniel’s, perhaps to lend some backing vocals or a lick or two next time. Rosenquest played another new one of his own, “Mary:”
I thought it to be Chris’ most impressive guitar work on the night, and lyrically the song was rather relate-able. It was time to put away the camera and enjoy my tuna fish sandwich, Dogfishhead 90 Minute IPA, and the rest of the music. Over the course if the night it came out that Nicky P and Chris Rosenquest were roommates, and helped me to understand further the camaraderie between local musicians. Enjoying each style as their own, and the variety amongst them it made for a great night of acoustically driven folky music. After retiring my camera for the evening (or so I thought) each songwriter performed another song before they were to take a stage break. Being a Wednesday night and realizing the short amount of time I had left for sleep I decided this would be a good time to pack up and make my exit. Once most of my worldly possessions were packed into my man purse I heard Nicky P’s preamble of a song about walking his dog, after Daniel Chase declared it his favorite of Nicky’s songs, I thought best to break the Nikon out for one more song:
05.06.09 Nicky P original song 3
I could certainly see why it was Daniel’s favorite, it ended up being my favorite song on the night. I’m definitely going to be keeping my eye out for more from each of these acts, hopefully I’ll be able to catch them on a non-work night. The following night it came to my attention that Writers in the Round has been going on for about a year and a half, that would explain why some of them felt comfortable enough to play barefoot. Where the heck have I been?
Pingback: The Scene – May 16th, RISA Saturday Songwriter Sessions « Sully’s Cafe
hey Sully, you should go to The Mill in Greenville, RI sometime. My uncle owns the place. It’s great for live music and he has a lot of like folk, blues, and stuff like that. his “house band” is sick too. They’re headed by a guy named Fred Wilkes and I swear to you that he is one of the best guitarists you will ever meet.
check it out sometime. he has music every saturday night. and it’s always free. actually, Love Money is playing there on August 8th. but I would suggest trying to go see Fred Wilkes or The Millrats
http://www.musicatthemill.com
peace man
~Lee
Pingback: Twitted by Dansull123
Pingback: Twitted by Rosenquest