Roger Brained: The Stairwell Sessions Album Review by Jeremy Glass
https://rogerbrainard.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-well
Artist: Roger Brainard
Title: The Stairwell Sessions
As the first silvery strums on the acoustic guitar issued forth into my headphones, followed by a completely unique voice, pitched somewhere between a purr and a growl, two thoughts struck me; here is an artist who makes no concessions in his art and song craft to glib accessibility, and this is the sound of modern Gothic Americana. A unique and fascinating voice that can be oddly soothing and then drip with the bitter taste of hopeless loss. With a keen focus on presenting his songs the way that he wants to, knowing the subtle inflections of his voice will convey the emotions he wants to emphasize, I couldn't help but be reminded of Leonard Cohen. Like Cohen, Brainard knows the words have a power that doesn't need to be glossed over in slick production. In fact, I believe the entire record was recorded, with one microphone, in a concrete stairwell! But more on that later.
First, the evidence:
1. Sometimes in the Dark - Challenging and Gothic to its core – “and I think about Jesus,
and the things that he said, and they say he was a good man, but he ended up dead", followed by the repeating lament;
"sometimes in the dark I can see real clear" - the lyrics further reveal that perhaps the loss of any desired connection simply cannot be fixed by the “power of positive thinking”,
and that sometimes negative feelings about a situation are, in fact, truth!
2. Angelina – Lovely chords and fingerpicking open the song, a musical mood not dissimilar to “House of the Rising Sun”. Again sadness and unrelenting devastation are Mr. Brainards riding partners, and he smoothly reveals
a voice of outrage, eloquently singing about the horrific acts of violence and betrayal committed by the United States against the indigenous people, (who had everything taken from them). Brainards’ touch is so deft
that the end effect is serious, (without being heavy handed).
3. Addiction - a harrowing and honest examination of the insidious nature of addiction, and one this reviewer can relate to on a very personal level. The following couplet revealed to me a world of understanding and empathy
from Mr. Brainards pen:
"With Battle cries and Lullabies
On these broken wings I can barely fly
I tried to circle my wagon like I've done before
But I wound up knocking on your back door"
The above verse hit me in the teeth, the way great art sometimes will!
4. Death Came by to See Me Yesterday - whistling by the graveyard, the artist manages to lyrically engage in a heavy topic, even inject it with a little humor. The small miracle of this tune is it sounds like an authentic ‘murder ballad’ from the Appalachian mountains in the 40’s or 50’s. In other words, timeless!
5. Bird That Doesn’t Sing For Me – I interpret this as a song about becoming alive again, of noticing the
condition of the beings around us, troubled by not hearing a bird that usually sings by his window, of the small and sometimes deceptively incongruous steps that lead us back to being our healthy self once more. Somehow Mr. Brainard brings this feeling back around to the devastating final line:
"Tonight my mind is full of the song she doesn’t sing for me".
Because as beings trying to return to the light, we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable heartbreak and loss that is a part of any life. This is my favorite on the record!
All of the songs on “The Stairwell Sessions” have something unique to offer, and the re-working of “Ring of Fire” is first rate, but the above songs spoke a little more loudly than the others after weeks of immersion.
One small criticism, and I want to make clear that this is only my humble opinion:
All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison is probably my 1st or 2nd favorite album of all time, I cherish it. And it has too much reverb on it! The songs on “All Things Must Pass” are occasionally in danger of being swallowed by the effects of Phil Spector; George himself was never entirely happy with this aspect of what became known as his personal artistic triumph. The quality and the sincerity of the tracks saved the songs from being swallowed.
Happily Roger Brainard’s’ songwriting and ‘take no prisoners delivery’ keep “The Stairwell Sessions” from capsizing under the enormous weight of the concrete and natural reverb. Great idea, I just would have loved to hear it dialed back about 50%. On a few of the tunes the production idea veers dangerously close to gimmick, and I am certain that was not the intention of the artist!
But hey, what do I know? Overall, this is a thought-provoking and often brilliant album, a relevant and sometimes shocking treatise on the current human condition.
Bravo Mr. Brainard, I look forward to hearing more from you!
