Guitarred and Feathered redux

Caught the show by Guitarrred and Feathered last night. Again, let me say:
















A little over a year ago I saw them and wrote down a brief review when I got home. I had no blog at the time but I sent it to Scott Regan, who forwarded it on to Phil Marshall who posted it on his own blog. Allow me to recycle:

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Guitarred and Feathered
Daily Perks Coffeehouse
November 4, 2006

It’s the old three-legged stool analogy – each leg is equally important and required to keep it upright. The legs on this musical stool – Phil Marshall, Scott Regan and Kinloch Nelson – were clearly each cut from a different type of tree and each turned on a different lathe. But they play complimentary acoustic guitar styles that make for a comfortable and sturdy work as a whole.Each performer took turns this night playing and/or singing, with collaboration on many of the tunes.

Kinloch Nelson uses his considerable technical virtuosity on aggressively-interpretive versions of a wide variety of song styles. Old TV themes like “Get Smart” and “Rawhide” were fun, “Sleepwalk” and “Song of India” were lush and dense with changes. A high point was a sad and gentle instrumental version of the Shirelles’ “Soldier Boy” – his elegant tone and texture gave a rich rosewood feel. He seems to use all ten fingers in a flurry of plucking and strumming that creates an atmospheric resonance.

Scott Regan is a wonderful and gifted songwriter – I’ll stand on Steve Earl’s coffee table in my hiking boots and say that. His style is cut from a straight-trunked maple. He has a unique perspective, which any good songwriter needs, and his compositions generally seem to expose the underlying grain of personal experience. His lyrics and song structure bring to mind John Prine or Michael Hurley; he clearly could play on the same stage with either and no one would be embarrassed.

Phil Marshall is that well-traveled, intricate piece of driftwood that has seen its share of shorelines. He delved into old standards and pop hits with a varied and often jazzy feel. He was equally at home with a soft, bossa nova strumming style as he was with rootsy country and blues picking. His solo reading of “Begin the Beguine” gave the song a feeling that won’t be found in any big band version. He launched into a gorgeous rendition of “Nature Boy” before cutting it short because he couldn’t quite remember the lyrics; the haunting instrumentation alone would have sufficed – it was that good. And his understated touch with the bottleneck in support of the other players always lent a nice feel.

They all pitched in on Nelson’s version of Lorne Greene’s “Ringo.” And speaking of Ringo, the Beatles were well-represented through “Norwegian Wood” (with deep resonant harmonics from Phil’s guitar) and “Blue Jay Way.”

These three should make their way into a studio and capture some of this stuff, although a small room full of coffee drinkers may be where they are most at home.