November 11, 2011

$20 / $23 at door

David Mallett

Laura Bullock opens

David MallettWe welcome back David Mallett, one of the “most memorable Mainers” of the twentieth century. Folk music critic Scott Alarik says of Mallett: “Always compelling, always musical . . . there is something about Mallett’s phrasing that lends an urgency and boldness to his songs. His deep clear voice has a storyteller’s naturalness to it, a poet’s intelligence.” ¶ Laura Bullock, a rising star who grew up in Medway, opens. In a very short time Bullock has put together some impressive albums and is rapidly developing a following in the Boston area.

The cool breezes of Maine’s northlands have flowed through the songs of David Mallett for nearly four decades. In addition to being featured on his fourteen albums, Mallett’s pen has provided material for an eclectic list of artists that includes Pete Seeger, Alison Kraus, Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, John Denver and the Muppets. His tune, “The Garden Song,” is one of America’s most popular folk songs, having been recorded more than 150 times and sung around the world. He has toured consistently in folk clubs, concert halls and festivals for thirty years.

A turning point in Mallett’s career came in 1975, after he discovered that Noel Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul and Mary, had moved to Blue Hill, Maine and was opening a recording studio. Within six months of their initial meeting, Mallett found a true mentor in Stookey. In addition to producing Mallett’s first three albums, Stookey helped to bring his songs to a national audience. Moving to Nashville in the early 1990s, Mallett continued to record and write new songs. “I did a little bit of everything,” he said, “wrote a lot of tunes, made some good records, got to know a lot of singers and played with some wonderful musicians like Roy Huskey, probably the most respected acoustic bass player in America, and drummer Kenny Malone. All in all, I think I learned how to make records better.”

Since returning to Maine in 1997, Mallett has continued to tour nationally and has written and recorded six CDs in 12 years. He also successfully explored the spoken word realm with his 2007 release, The Fable True, a collection of Henry David Thoreau’s stories about his visits to Maine in the mid 1800s, with instrumental soundtrack.

When he is not touring, the place where he makes his songs is in his writing room in an old farmhouse with a view across the field and a tintype of his great-great grandfather on the wall. “I like to keep reaching out to touch the past,” he says, “to connect it with what’s going on now. To me music is one of the few things that is timeless . . . human emotion is one continual chain.”

. . .

Laura Bullock

Laura Bullock is a Boston-area songwriter through and through. Literate and modern, reflective and relevant, she writes and performs in a style that has become characteristic of the Cambridge folk music scene. On stage, Laura weaves each song together with humor and stories, connecting with the audience like two friends over tea. Following the 2006 release of her first full-length album entitled Points North and the 2008 release of her self-titled EP, fans are eagerly awaiting Laura’s next studio release, expected later in 2011.

Appearing on a compilation CD released by Cambridge’s legendary Club Passim and selected as a finalist in the 2008 Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters, Laura continues to gain recognition for her sweet, simple voice and insightful, thought-provoking lyrics. Growing up in the Boston area in the 80’s and 90’s, Laura was heavily influenced by the urban folk revival that came out of the Cambridge scene, including such artists as Shawn Colvin, Ellis Paul, Patty Griffin, and Dar Williams. With influences such as these, it comes as no surprise that Laura is able to write songs that are both intensely introspective yet universally relatable. Both on the road and in the studio Laura is garnering praise from audiences and industry members alike.

  • WUMB Radio selects David Mallett’s Alright Now CD as one of the top ten albums of 2010!
  • A masterpiece . . . This is an exquisite, ennobling record, made by a terrific craftsman Steve Morse, Boston Globe
  • It’s really real music in its truest form . . . the truest form ever imaginable. . . . But for true hard core songwriters, Alright Now is a masterpiece and one that you can listen to and learn from for years to come. Yes, David Mallet has proven that once again it really is all about the music. There is no doubt that he has left an unfading imprint on Music City and Classic Americana Music forever. Jan Duke, Aboutnashville.com
  • I know of no other songwriter who can so convincingly capture that fleeting sense of being perfectly at one with a place and time. This is at the heart of why Mallett has won such a loyal following and holds such hope for the future. Michael Hughes, Portland Press Herald
  • . . .
  • [Laura Bullock is an] earthy rootsy singer/songwriter with an eye for the minor details of the human experience. Club Passim Newsletter
  • Singer-songwriters, especially with the veritable flock of them hovering around the Greater Boston area and the Northeast, don’t usually get recognized all that quickly. Fan bases develop slowly. Respectability takes time.
    Don’t tell that to Laura Bullock, though. And don’t ask the people who line up at Club Passim to see her, or anyone who has had a listen of her debut Points North. If they’re any sort of barometer, respectability comes remarkably quickly. WERS Artist of the Week