Daryl Yankee Misisipi Mike Wolf & Rick Bruner at Sir Ben's. Photo by Jill Fisher.

The book How Music Works by David Byrne is a fascinating exploration into the world of music. From the first couple of sentences it drew me in with its insight that “context largely determines what is…sung or performed.”

He explained that a symphony is composed with a symphony hall in mind, rock anthems for arenas, clubs and bars for rowdier tunes and ballads for more intimate venues. When you think about it, it seems obvious that a string quartet isn’t expected to play in a bar like R. T. Quinlan’s and so even contemporary compositions for such a group wouldn’t be geared to such a venue.

Byrne’s writings brought to mind my own observations about various music venues here in the Twin Ports.  

As I have suggested in my writings over the course of the past 18 months, there is a certain “fit” between locations that work for live performances by bands and solo performers. Some of my experiences include seeing Paul Metsa at Black Water Lounge, Matt Sayles and cohorts at Wussow’s, Charlie Parr at Cedar Lounge and Landscapes at the Rathskeller.

Then there’s the West Theater, my choice for rock and roll and blues bands (despite lack of a dance floor), Sacred Heart Music Center for choral, chamber and acoustic performances, and bars like Caddy Shack for rollicking groups like Black River Review, Pert Near Sandstone and A Band Called Truman.  

During warm weather months, outdoor venues are added into the mix of contexts that work better for some types of music than others. And of course these spaces can vary as well, from the large-scale festival grounds at Bayfront and Earth Rider in Superior where amplified music by groups of different sizes works well, to smaller spaces like Pier B’s Courtside stage and seasonal tents put up for events like Breeze Inn’s Oktoberfest. However, in these cases, loud groups are favored over solo performers. I’ve attended Charlie Parr gigs in both intimate indoor and spacious outdoor venues and I would argue that Cedar Lounge is a far better place to hear him than on Earth Rider’s outdoor stage.  

Byrne addresses the listening contexts for recorded music as well noting that, since the advent of recorded music in 1878, we have the option of hearing music in our living rooms, on the radio, in our cars and on headphones and earbuds just about anywhere (while downhill skiing anyone?). Back in the 50s and 60s recorded music was popular on jukeboxes that could be enjoyed in other listening contexts such as corner bars and soda fountains. Internet radio has also expanded our listening options, with streamed shows from stations in New York, Memphis, New Orleans and Hawaii! (I haven’t tried any foreign stations, though that could be interesting.)  

Being something of a Luddite, I have yet to listen to much online music; a bit of YouTube on my PC, but virtually nothing via my phone on Spotify, Bandcamp, etc.. CDs provide for the greatest amount of regular listening I do as I drive in my car as this allows me to sing along without embarrassing myself! CDs also are a good way to listen to the work by lots of different local musicians that may not get much, if any, airplay on radio stations.  

Here's what Byrne has to say about the impact recorded music has on musicians: “The performing musician was now expected to write and create for two very different spaces: the live venue, and the device that could play a recording or receive a transmission. Socially and acoustically, these spaces were worlds apart. But the compositions were expected to be the same!”

This thought intrigued me and upon reflection I too have shared this expectation. I started to compare my recollections of live gigs to the groups’ corresponding CDs or LPs, of which I’ve collected my share.   The Doobie Brother’s concert back in June was a close match to the LP record I’ve had since the early 1970s.

Similarly, the local band Boxcar captured on its CD Cheap Hotel the energy and intensity of its concert in Leif Erikson Park this past summer. The same goes for Pert’ Near Sandstone’s CD Needle & Thread compared with their gig at Caddy Shack last year as well as Reverend Raven & the Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys’ CD My Life (Bayfront Blues Fest) and Inside Straight’s Straight Up..Down and Dirty.

The well-produced albums of John Prine and Chris Smither, both of whom I’ve seen in concert several times, are in this category. Then, of course, there is Dylan who is famous for the rather wide discrepancy there is between his albums and subsequent performances.  

By contrast, the band Belfast Cowboys, whose concerts are favorites, doesn’t quite do it for me with its CD This Magic Night. Other area musicians whose CDs I’ve enjoyed listening to as echoes of great gigs and concerts include Colleen Myhre/Boss Mama’s Just Getting Started and Ride of My Life, Feeding Leroy’s Love Is A Gamble, Rick Bruner’s Eight Hundred Miles, Joyann Parker’s Roots and Out of the Dark, to mention just a few.  

Solo acts such as Shane Nelson, with his eponymously named album (another by him soon to come!) and  Matt Sayles’s, Reflecterer I have also found to be reminiscent of the best gigs of theirs I’ve experienced. I could name many more bands and their albums but you get my drift. And perhaps now you will begin hearing the differences, subtle or great, between the live performances and studio recordings of your favorite bands.  

I have an idea that I will be referencing Byrne’s book in the future, so if you’re interested in delving into what he has to say on  this topic for yourself, know that the book is in our Duluth Public Library. I would highly recommend it to readers interested in how music works.  

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, I spent a couple hours at Sir Ben’s listening to what one person termed “Duluth’s Super Group.” It was a trio made up of Misisipi Mike Wolf, Daryl Yankee and Rick Bruner—all highly skilled guitarists and singer-songwriters. It sounds like they will be performing together more in the future, even if they haven’t come up with an original name for the group so far. Be on the lookout!  

Spoken word poet SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE (Photo by Michael Anderson)

The “Seeds of Culture—Baroque Time Travel Hip Hop” concert at Sacred Heart Music Center on Friday, Nov. 17, was indeed “Outside the Box” as the tagline to the title of this concert made clear. A small audience experienced a novel intersection of musical genres—classical compositions dating from the 17th and 18th centuries with relatively recent 50-year-old Hip Hop practices. The result wasn’t anything like what I expected, beginning with a prologue of overlapping talking voices. The Hip Hop aspect consisted of loops and sampling without the anticipated rapping. Instead, the lyrical content was poems read by DJ SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE.  

Not being especially conversant with Baroque music, I didn’t understand that its repeated  phasing and interludes could correspond to a similar convention in Hip Hop music. The concert purposely stretched one’s comprehension of what this mix was all about and being a unique conflation of genres it wasn’t immediately obvious or appealing.   However, as the performance continued and I stopped trying to mentally grasp the similarities between the two genres, it became more engaging and enjoyable. Members of the Bach Society of Minnesota provided the classical component with beautiful vocals by soprano Elena Stabile and Kat Parent and three instrumentalists: Marco Real-d’Arbelles on violin, Phillip Rukavina on theorbo (a plucked string instrument of the lute family) and Yunyue Liu on piano.

This quartet brought a high level of musicality to the several compositions. But it was SEE MORE, with his poetry and percussive work on an MPC (computerized drum pad) and loopstation that underscored the uniqueness of the concept. While it’s likely that this musical exploration may not be many folks’ cup of tea, I ended up enjoying it in spite of my initial uncertainty. I guess it doesn’t hurt to broaden one’s musical horizons.  

Upcoming: Mason Jennings will be performing at SHMC in connection with the release of his Underneath the Roses album this coming Saturday evening starting at 8 pm. The following Thursday, Nov. 30 Them Coulee Boys will be on stage at the West Theater. I can’t wait for that one. See you there!

Seeds of Culture (Photo by Michael Anderson)