November 18, 2011

$20 / $23 at door

Marshall Crenshaw

Chelsea Berry opens

Marshall CrenshawMarshall Crenshaw burst onto the music scene with his first album in 1982 and has earned a reputation as one of the finest songwriters of his generation. Movie buffs may remember him as Buddy Holly in La Bamba. ¶ Chelsea Berry, originally from Alaska and now based on Cape Ann, opens the show. Chelsea falls somewhere between Sheryl Crow and Joni Mitchell . . . with a little Alaskan edge.

Over 25 years since breaking through to critical and commercial acclaim with his 1982 self-titled debut and its infectious, era-defining pop hit “Someday, Someway,” Marshall Crenshaw creates an incredible new chapter in his career with Jaggedland, Crenshaw’s first studio recording in more than six years and perhaps his most musically dynamic and lyrically intimate collection yet. Classic Crenshaw attributes including an indelible sense of melody and tuneful essence combine to create a rich warmth and intimacy on every song of Jaggedland. The recording has a powerful vibe of immediacy thanks to Crenshaw’s warm vocals and riveting guitar work. Simply put, the 12 songs are musical observations about the human experience, mortality, the state of the world and of course, love as viewed through the inimitable Crenshaw perspective.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Crenshaw began playing guitar at age ten and he received his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway company of Beatlemania. Living in NYC, he recorded the single “Something’s Gonna Happen,” which led to a deal with Warner Bros. His debut album, Marshall Crenshaw, was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon its release in 1982 and established him as a first-rate songwriter, singer and guitarist. The record spawned the Top 40 single “Someday, Someway,” which rockabilly singer Robert Gordon scored a hit with a year earlier. Crenshaw’s second album, 1983’s Field Day, was another critical smash and led to a successful slate of 20-plus years of studio recordings that offered a fascinating evolutionary journey through an array of musical landscapes.

As Crenshaw was developing Jaggedland’s mix of poignant and incisive love songs and musings on mortality, he ventured once again into the film world, co-penning the title track to the hilarious, critically acclaimed John C. Reilly film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story; the track was nominated for a 2008 Golden Globe and a 2008 Grammy Award. Over the last few years, Crenshaw has played 40–50 shows a year on what he dubs “the NPR singer-songwriter circuit.” Says Crenshaw, “This album took a lot of wear and tear on my emotions, but in the end I think it’s one of my best ever and I am so excited to have worked with so many of my favorite players on it. When people ask me why I keep making music after all these years, I have a simple answer: because I have to. For lack of a more colorful term, there is truly something magical to it and I never take it for granted.”

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Chelsea Berry

Chelsea Berry is a 27-year-old Alaskan born singer/songwriter with edge, power, and finesse. She has the vocal finesse of Joni Mitchell, the power of Janis Joplin, and the presence of Ani DiFranco. She has been called a “global force” by reviewers, and Livingston Taylor calls her vocals “world class.” Her writing is thought-provoking and identifiable, and her command of the stage paired with her sense of humor and ease of conversation, as one listener put it, “pulls the whole crowd into her world like moths to a flame.” Her vocals are smooth and lyrics reminiscent of the folk music of the sixties. Recently, she appeared as the cover of The Noise magazine in Boston, has been featured multiple times on Boston’s 92.5 The River, and has played venues from Boston’s House of Blues to the Shalin Liu in Rockport, MA and Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has opened for artists such as Livingston Taylor, Laurie Lewis, Roger McGuinn Tom Rozum, and more.

  • You have to love this strong a comeback, because they really don’t come often enough. In the early ’80s, Marshall Crenshaw made an immediate mark as a singer-songwriter of exceptional talent. He had a way of synthesizing several elements of past masters into a new style; he was never retro but still always informed by the past. Crenshaw took over New York like a man afire, and his early hit “Someday, Someway” stands as a sonic monument to the time. Bentley’s Bandstand
  • Strangely, despite extreme critical acclaim and occasional heavy marketing, Marshall Crenshaw is not a superstar, although everyone knows a handful of his recordings or compositions (like the Gin Blossoms hit, “Til I Hear It From You”). Well, one of the best things about Marshall Crenshaw’s new Jaggedland is, yes, it’s another Marshall Crenshaw album, yay. But also, it’s a wonderfully solid offering that is another opportunity to make true believers out of casual listeners whose memories and music collections merely include his ’82 Warners self-titled debut (with the classics “Someday, Someway,” “Cynical Girl,” and “There She Goes Again”), or even Miracle Of Science (that featured “What Do You Dream Of,” a cover of Dobie Gray’s “The ‘In’ Crowd,” and the brilliant anthem and alternate universe Top Ten smash, “Starless Summer Sky”). Mike Ragogna, Huffington Post
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  • . . . Chelsea Berry’s voice is heard to evincing effect on numbers such as the lovely ‘Walk With Me’ and the mesmeric ‘The One I’ve Waited For,’ and fans of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks will find a great deal to like in these particular compositions. Francis DiMenno, The Noise, Boston