02/01, Fri 8:30 ~ RYAN MONTBLEAU; with special guest Susan Kane ~ $20 +$2 processing
Towne Crier Cafe Pawling, NY
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Friday Feb 01, 2013 8:30 PM - Friday Feb 01, 2013 11:00 PM | $22.00
Event
02/01, Fri 8:30 ~ RYAN MONTBLEAU; with special guest Susan Kane ~ $20 +$2 processing
. RYAN MONTBLEAU:
"Time hangs heavy on the vine/Let's make wine," Ryan Montbleau sings in the lulling, sensual verse that gives his new album its title. Ryan Montbleau has been tending his own musical vineyard for a few years, on the patient cusp of a breakthrough. His distinctive, long-fermenting blend of neo-folk, classic soul, and kick-out-the-jams Americana finally comes to full fruition in Heavy On The Vine. It's an album that represents the product of -- and further promise of -- a very good year.
Susan Kane has a beautiful voice, a distinctive point of view and a knack for memorable melodies that make her more than just another musician. Her songs draw on many strains of roots music -- from folk to blues to country in the Americana idiom. Her songs often have a bittersweet theme, albeit intimate and warmly expressed. The specifically autobiographical "Kesey" tells the story of a horse she owned for much of her adult life, and is a poignant musing on mortality; "Big Baby" winks at the inner child in all of us; "My Father's Tattoo" is completely fictitious, although inspired by real front page news.
Born in New York and raised in various suburban locations by artistically inclined parents in New Jersey, she was drawn to music at an early age, but wandered away from her mother's conservatory piano repertoire to the homespun vibes of acoustic folk and twangy country music. The rise of Bob Dylan and the ubiquitous presence of folk music on Top 40 radio and pop music outlets of the time called to her. 'My mom is actually from Wheeling, West Virginia, home of WWVA and its famous Jamboree USA country music show. She used to joke that I must have some hillbilly blood in me somewhere.' Kane dropped the piano and picked up the guitar around sixth grade, promptly forming an all girl folk trio which performed for a couple of years. Then she went solo and sang folky, protesty, singer songwriter stuff with some Beatles thrown in. There was a college duo with a guy partner, who turned her on to the Grateful Dead. 'I immersed myself deeply in their work, which most people probably don't realize are about half covers culled from just about every genre.' After college, she played just for her own enjoyment, and got back into performing in the mid 1990s, logging time in the corporate world and raising a family with her attorney/writer husband. She only started to write songs about 10 years ago. She was in a rock band that started doing original material, and thought, 'maybe I can do that too.' When the band wound down, she found herself having coffee with local indie goddess Sloan Wainwright who said 'Go to the folk world.' And she hasn't looked back.
No, she doesn't regret not having started this sooner. No point in that, she says. Rather, she feels was actually 'in training'---soaking up literature, poetry, movies, music, the raw material of songs. It takes time to process one's influences. In the early 2000s she entered the local Westchester and New York singer songwriter and folk scene.
'I was very inspired by Pete Seeger whom I first met at a nonprofit fundraiser. He listened to a song I had just written, and was very complementary and encouraging.' She gets her songwriting ideas from anything and everything--offbeat newspaper articles, odd turns of phrase, roadside flowers. She is drawn to drawn to characters (and the consequences of character), stories and situations, and tries to express a particular message or feeling though the unique use of language.
Susan was named a Second Bracket Winner in Radio Crystal Blue's April 2009 Airplay Vote.
* We do not reserve specific tables except for TCC members, when possible (see membership benefits). * Tables closest to the stage are held for dinner guests. * The earlier you arrive, the greater the selection. The Towne Crier Cafe is an intimate room, and there are no bad seats. * "Show Only" tables are assigned after those reserved for "Dinner & Show" parties. * Recommended time for an enjoyable, relaxed dining experience: Party of 2: One hour before show time Party of 3 or 4: Two hours before show time Party of 5 or more: At least two and one half hours before show time. * $2 handling & processing charge per ticket. * All sales are final. No refunds. No exchanges.
