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Paul Nelson Band with Hawthorn
Do you really wanna know what my life was like? Cause it was quite boring, Paul Nelson says one Nashville afternoon while sipping a coffee and eating a Subway sandwich like the average white guy he is. The short version of the story is that Nelson arrived in Nashville from Boston in 2016, after years of being beckoned by the songs and legendary, not-so-average lives of Willie, Waylon, Cash, and company. You know his story. Youve heard it all before, and, yes, it really is quite boring, if you ask him.
But his self-awareness, and his willingness to slash and burn through the layers of identity and artistic instinct till he finds something he can hang his hat on, are as evident in his life as they are in his songwriting neither of which are the least bit boring. The dotted line connecting Nelsons jockstrapped youth in upstate New York, to his poetic imitations at a Canadian liberal arts college, to his standup limitations in Bostons comedy scene, to his final destination as a Nashville singer/songwriter, reveals a dude trying to figure it out like everyone else. But after years of searching, one thing is now undeniable: The dude can write. The dude can sing. And hes where he belongs. Check out his single Do or Die, produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff), and decide for yourself.
A folk singer at heart, Nelsons musical heritage stretches between the jazzy, country crooning of Willie Nelson (there is no relation), and Jonathan Richmans endearing proto-punk city slang. However, Paul Nelsons approach to songwriting was not gleaned from a dude ranch or a dive bar. It actually came together in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught English for a year, and, in his free time, struggled to translate the countrys ancient poetry. It didnt really reach across too many borders, Nelson said. I realized whats good, is Tarantino writing poetry for Samuel L. Jackson the graffiti in the bathroom in your high school is good. He adds, I realized that the best poetry, the best art, would be writing about what you know.
With an attractive vocal timbre travelling the same iconic sonic roads as Jim Croce, Van Morrison, John Lennon, and, yes, even Willie Nelson, Paul Nelson the singer could have easily been a lazy songwriter, and people would have liked it just fine. But his ability to write what everyone knows, poetically, intimately, and often with idiosyncratic curveballs that somehow dont knock a poignant song into novelty territory, set him far apart from the other boring white guys with pretty voices.
But boring or not, it doesnt matter. Because much like another one of Nelsons heroes, Gram Parsons a trust fund kid and Harvard dropout, largely credited with creating the genre of country-rock its not what you are, its what you do that matters. Nelson is even reluctant to speak publicly about his Nashville DUI arrest. While many artists orbiting the country rock genre may cling to that kind of thing for a perceived outlaw credibility, for Nelson, he simply says that his arrest and subsequent sobriety helped him place focus on the work, where it should be. Not being able to drink for a year has made me better at everything, he said. Ill (write) in the morning, with a coffee it made me realize this is really what I want to do, and Ill do it forever.
The women of Hawthorn craft songs with a weight that sits with you long after their audible presence fades (Red Line Roots). Working from the belief that tradition is made to evolve, Heather and Taylor chart a creative course through Appalachian and Celtic roots to the present-day. With a powerful vocal blend surrounded in old-time banjo, seascape guitar, and dreamy electric lines, Hawthorn is quickly claiming a place in the music of New England and beyond. Their second album, Maggie Willow, lands in February 2019.
ATWOOD'S IS A MIX OF SEATING AND STANDING ROOM. PURCHASING A TICKET DOES NOT GUARANTEE SEATING.
21+ / POS. I.D. REQ
FINAL SALE, NO REFUNDS/EXCHANGES
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LocationAtwood's Tavern (View)
877 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
United States
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