Saturday May 16th after dropping Nicole off, I bummed around most of the day uploading media from the previous night’s show and working on the blog. Weekends I usually pack full of errands, typing, cleaning and shows as much as possible, and try to save after work for relaxation. Around 6pm I started to get ready and gave Nicole a call to twist her arm into coming to the Brooklyn Coffee Teahouse for the Saturday Songwriter Sessions. The sessions this Saturday consisted of Andrea Belanger, Daniel Chase (both of whom I’d seen recently) and Joyce Sampson (who I’d yet to hear). When Nicole and I first got together, she lived way down Douglas Ave, but neither of us had heard of the Brooklyn, and in all honesty, really wish we had during her time out there. Once we found the place, it was like a diamond in the rough the front door was locked with a sign pointing to the side entrance. Passing the wrought iron gate, Nicole and I meandered down a field stone path that traversed an outdoor garden, full of luxurious green vines and a variety of flowers to cover the spectrum of a rainbow. Park benches lined the path with some standard white PVC outdoor lounge chairs, and as we approached the door, I noticed an old time self contained porch swing, and was immediately reminded of my Grandma Jo and her summertime swing cadence by the lake with good book.
Joyce Sampson
We walked into the quaint coffee house, lined with couches and small cafe tables. Music and movie memorabilia lined the walls, with a few shelves chuck full of all manner of book for your reading enjoyment. Quite and subdued, it was the perfect place for some acoustic songwriters to showcase their work in an environment meant to harbor them. I go out for the music, when I got a show or bar I’m there to see the musicians and their acts, and sometimes have wished all patrons gave the artists the same respect I do. It seemed as such was not the case at The Brooklyn, Frank Martyn was hosting the event and owner Anthony Demings (Tony from here on out) was on hand, they made sure to remind the audience that Saturday Songwriter Sessions was designed as a “quiet listening experience.” My favorite beverages are coffee and beer, usually dependent on the day of the week or time of day what my choice will be, but was limited to the former at The Brooklyn. I was disappointed at first that I couldn’t get a “drink,” but completely understood the logic. I asked Nicole to snag a seat on the couch closest to where a lone chair and mic stand sat, as I went to the bar and ordered us some iced coffees. Tony reached into a freezer and pulled out a tray of ice coffee cubes, I couldn’t help but smirk reminded of my father’s own summertime obsession of forming coffee ice for his own coffee while at Johnson’s Pond for the season. I noticed an enticing lemon bunt cake on the counter with bright yellow frosting and asked Tony to add a slice with my order.
I joined m’lady on the couch with our beverages and got cozy as Frank was describing the night, and the tradition at The Brooklyn, meanwhile Joyce Sampson fiddled with her acoustic guitar, and loop petal before breaking into her first song, “Find My Way”. Ranging from touching to humorous lyrically, it was a song about feeling as though middle age had set in at 25, faced paced with lots of chord changes it was strummed out nicely. “Let me In” was her next song, it had a heavier feel and changed tempo a few times from good riffs to delicate strums and back to some fierce rhythm. Joyce went into some back story about her next song while I asked Tony if I could take some clips in his establishment. Giving an encouraging nod, I asked for another Iced Coffee and lemon pound cake before heading back to the couch for “The Mercenary:”
05.16.09 Joyce Sampson “The Mercenary (Private Uncle Sam)”
Folky and finger picked it was a great touching number. Joyce was very gracious to the appreciation of her songs, and intimated while she had been performing music for quite some time as a bassist, she had just recently picked up the guitar to try her hand at songwriting. Nicole and I agreed we were both surprised by this confession as her songs seemed well polished as though she’s been playing them for a while. She began to drop to “D” once settled she broke into “Hold On:”
05.16.09 Joyce Sampson “Hold On” clip
Making her bass roots evident she played it heavily toned with a country rhythm, and included am impressive false stop and time change. So impressive, the crowd started to clap, and I stopped recording, thus resulting in only a clip. Joyce started in with a story about the Florida State University King of Love and a song that he inspired her to pen. It had a great groove and Frank Martyn and I were tapping our feet in unison. Stepping away from the couch a bit I walked around the coffee house saying hello to Daniel and Andrea and letting them know I was ecstatic they had let me know about this night of music. I cozied back up with Nicole and broke out the camera for the next song “Rednecks and Longhairs:”
05.16.09 Joyce Sampson “Rednecks and Longhairs”
She described it as an autobiographical piece about what she fancies, which certainly gave me a smirk representing the latter half of the title. Containing the line “Grew up on country, but I lost my way” it gave a further glimpse into from whence her inspirations came. Throughout her set the songs were folk rocky with country undertones both musically and lyrically. She began to discuss her hometown where she grew up, comparing it to Fall River, again it was a cool country bluesy number that had everyone in the room tapping their feet. Attempting to fill out her final song a bit more she began to struggle with a drum machine/loop petal for a few moments, but short on time she settled for some funky guitar effects what I’m guessing to be titled “You Must Be Insane” or “Black Roses:”
05.16.09 Joyce Sampson Original song 1
It was a good number to end her night, this song had more rocking rhythms than her others of the night, but certainly fell right at home with lyrics and themes common to the country music I that was forced upon me in my youth. As per usual, once she started to thank the crowd I made my way outside to raise the nicotine levels in my bloodstream, during the performer change, fully aware that a “stage” change between acoustic songwriters would be much more rapid than a full band, I made haste. Plopping back down on the couch I found Nicole nibbling on the pound cake while Frank gave an introduction for Daniel Chase. Opening his set with what seemed a cathartic confession, he played a song of his I had yet to hear “Low Place:”
05.16.09 Daniel Chase “Low Place”
A lovely somber number full of delicate tones and heartfelt lyrics with interesting pluck strumming. He chose a song he had written recently, which I love when I caught it at Writers in the Round, “Save You:”
05.16.09 Daniel Chase “Save You”
Daniel Chase
A song seeking the redemption of a lost lover, again direct from the heart. More up tempo and rhythmic it had many more chord changes than his “Low Place,” but again utilized deep introspective lyrics. As Daniel prepared for his next song, removing his capo, Frank took a moment to prompt for more info from the young songwriter. Either sly, shy or modest Mr. Chase jested “Well, you can google me, and I think you’ll find a myspace page or something,” and introduced his next song saying “I wrote this song about stuff that happened” playing “Greed.” Being his most politically charged song, its one of my favorites by Daniel, and I kicked myself for having decided to capture still photos on this one. Fast paced, it was less a political protest piece and more a song of warning. The first verse always hooks me and entrenches my empathy for the duration to be refreshed during each bridge. I may not have caught a clip of this one, but it is featured on his myspace. There, I linked it, you don’t even have to google for it. Pulling his capo from his headstock, I set the camera to video again to capture the next song. Giving a this one a bit of an introduction, he confessed it was inspired by an episode of Mr. Rogers, and broke into “Stepping Stone:”
05.16.09 Daniel Chase “Stepping Stone”
A great acoustic blues piece, if this is the only blues number he’s written, I hope he dabbles a bit more as I loved it. Changing pace a bit he played a romantic song, I could easily see causing hysteria in a room full of ladies, “So Beautiful (You Should be Mine):”
05.16.09 Daniel Chase “So Beautiful (You Should Be Mine)”
At the risk of sounding crass, that song has definitely gotten him laid. He followed suit with another poetically tender piece, “Baby Slow Down.” A great song, Nicole enjoyed it so much as to add it to her myspace profile the following day. Not recording this one I sang along a bit being familiar through a single CD I’ve obtained on record store day. He kept the pace slow for his final number, moving towards the deep and poignant again with “Heaven is a Honky Tonk:”
05.16.09 Daniel Chase “Heaven is a Honky Tonk”
As Daniel cleared the stool for Andrea Belanger I made my way out for another cigarette during the break and made some conversation with the other patrons. I secured my spot on the couch as Frank was winding down Andrea’s introduction, she was attending Berklee in Boston and hailed from Fall River, something of which she was “Damn proud.” Opening her set, she begain “At Least not on Purpose:”
05.16.09 Andrea Belanger “At Least Not on Purpose”
The youngest songwriter of the evening filled the song with her beautiful folk guitar tones, it was apparent she was a bit nervous. Halfway through a cat got her tongue and she paused for a sip of water, she quickly regained her composure and sang the next verses with gusto. Choosing her most catchy song next, she prompted her parents to sing along, and played a great version of “The Vegetable Song,” one with which I was familiar through her myspace:
05.16.09 Andrea Belanger “The Vegetable Song”
Rife with chord changes and a happy rhythm, it was a deep scalding song with a touch of humor for the catch. “Finally Clean” was the song she belted out next, professing it NOT to be about a drug addiction. I’d guess rather mused after the mourning period following a breakup:
05.16.09 Andrea Belanger “Finally Clean”
Andrea Belanger
Again she impressed with her guitar work, steady rhythm and heavy riffs. She turned to the audience to ask for any requests, Daniel Chase replied with “The Puppet Song.” Laughing, Andrea said she liked his chosen abbreviation as “Permanent Until Proven Temporary” was quite a mouthful for most to remember, and when writing about the song, had used the acronym PUPT. Intricately finger picked it showcased her guitar work further, as well as her hearty folk roots. My poor, overworked point and click was giving me the battery warning again as I was taking a few still shots, so from here on out I’ll be relying on memory and notes. I really enjoyed the cool strum pattern in her next song “Anymore” and she returned to impressive finger picking on her final original of the evening “Empty Without You.” She closed her set covering “Jesus Don’t Want Me for a Sunbeam,” a parody of a Christian children’s hymn from 1900, “I’ll Be a Sunbeam” made popular by Nirvana’s version from Unplugged in New York. Even if I couldn’t record these last few for you, I’ve provided links of home performances from Andrea’s youtube account. At the closing of the night Nicole and I made sure to chat and thank each of the performers of the evening. I even forced them to pose for a picture to commemorate the evening. It was an incredible and impressive evening, reminiscent of VH1 Storytellers. Tony took the Mic at the end of the night to highlight other events at The Brooklyn. Thursday Night’s are another regular happening there, with movie screening nights. As an authorized screening venue of the Rhode Island International Film Festival Thursdays were reserved for film study and review to help decide on the applicants for this year’s festival. Personally I’m intrigued and may have to make my way down on a Thursday night to see what its all about!
Joyce Sampson, Andrea Belanger and Daniel Chase
nice one sully!
Just returned from my summer vacation and getting my feet back on the Providential ground Sully – THANK you so MUCH for this awesome review!
Joyce