Tim Blane: Not Your Average White Guy with a Guitar
February 8, 2008
Most guys with a guitar end up sounding the same after a while — it’s somewhat of a hackneyed act that starts to quickly lose appeal. Tim Blane, however, strives to challenge this stereotype with a quirky and catchy blend of straight up folk-pop. Along with a bassist and cajónist, Blane performed at WMFO’s inaugural Acoustic Café performance on January 31. Each Thursday at 8:30, a different artist will perform an hour-long set at Brown and Brew in an effort to expose Tufts students to new music and to help fledgling artists gain recognition. Blane’s performance was the first of the semester.
Blane’s set was a straightforward, no-frills sampling of his two current albums, Clockwork (2007) and In the Meantime (2005). Among the songs played were “So Life,” which Blane described as a “carpe diem kind of song” and “Drifting and Driving,” a song he wryly claimed is fast becoming the most requested first dance song at weddings.
Although very similar in style and quality to artists like Jason Mraz, Blane’s influences branch out to other genres. Many of In the Meantime’s tracks seem to draw from the style of alternative-country artist Lyle Lovett, with quirky lyrics and a subtle undertone of country melodies. Blane also cites various jazz and blues artists as major influences, both of which clearly contribute a certain funk and groove to his song writing.
One cannot overlook, however, the striking similarities between Blane and pop-rock superstar John Mayer. Both write honest, soulful lyrics that set them apart from the average “white dude with a guitar” persona of many current folk-pop artists. Even their performance styles are similar; a certain microphone-biting, head-bobbing idiosyncrasy works its way onstage with both of them. “Tennessee,” a bittersweet, melodic ballad, is very reminiscent of Mayer’s “3×5,” replete with melancholy lyrics and driving percussion that move the song along. Both incidentally attended Boston’s Berklee School of Music (Mayer was a dropout. Blane, you win).
Blane brings with him Adam Olenn on bass and James Williams on drums. Due to Brown and Brew’s space constrictions, however, Williams brought his cajón, an Afro-Peruvian percussion instrument that enables the player to create many different sounds without the unwieldiness of a drum set.
In an effort to break up the set a bit, Blane performed covers of Fall Out Boy’s infamous “Dance, Dance” and Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble.” It took most of the audience a few minutes to figure out what exactly Blane was going for when he started with “Dance, Dance.” Although it was a valiant effort, the preteen angst anthem is better off performed by Fall Out Boy.
Blane explained that the band chose “Dance, Dance” because “we like to keep people guessing.” In addition to the Fall Out Boy classic, Blane and company have performed songs by Kelly Clarkson, injecting mainstream pop into their otherwise uniform setlists.
While the band fell a bit flat on “Dance, Dance,” the cover of “Trouble” did due justice to the musical flair of Ray LaMontagne. A simple, soulful rendition of the song garnered the most applause from the audience of any song that evening.
After the hour-long set at Brown and Brew, Blane and his band members headed upstairs to WMFO’s studio for a live on-air set and a brief interview. They replayed many of the same songs, including the single “Me Being Me,” one of Blane’s catchiest tunes. Although Blane commented that the studio was “about 107 degrees,” his voice was consistently clear and on pitch throughout the evening.
In the ensuing interview, all three band members were asked several probing and personal questions, each of which received a witty response. The first question was rather benign: what’s on your iPod right now? Olenn remarked that his current favorite song was Colin Hay’s (“Men at Work”) solo on vinyl, eliciting a laugh from the entire studio. Williams confessed that he was working his way through the Beatles collection for the first time in his life, while Blane cited his current favorites as Lupe Fiasco and “a mix of different jazz stuff.”
When asked which food they would most like to be reincarnated as, all three men gave very different responses. Olenn immediately jumped in with his contribution: honey dust. After Blane gently tried to explain the heroin is in fact referred to as “angel dust,” Olenn described his choice as simply powdered honey. After thinking for a few minutes, Williams confidently stated his choice to be beef jerky.
After a stint this summer playing on the Rock Boat, a musical Caribbean cruise organized by the members of Sister Hazel, Blane says that he’s glad to be back in the states and playing his new songs for fresh audiences. All in all, it was a rewarding evening of music, and future Acoustic Café shows should offer much of the same.
Tim Blane will be on tour until April 18, but will return to Somerville to play at Johnny D’s on February 23. WMFO, Tufts Freeform Radio, will be hosting the Acoustic Café series every Thursday at 8:30 at Brown and Brew. For more information visit www.wmfo.org.