Untitled Document
Here is a striking example of the incredible and
profound talent floating around the universe that occasionally ends up on
our doorstep, as three good songwriters stop by Springfield in one weekend.
First let’s discuss our local product, a
legend-in-the-making, and all-around swell fellow, John Walter. Known as
Walty to his national fan base outside of Springfield, Walter grew up in
Colony West, a subdivision near White Oaks Mall and played with several
local bands in the eighties. His weekend visit revolves around performances
with founding members of two of these groups: yours truly for Condition 90
and Mike Burnett for the Suns of Circumstance. Locals may also remember
Johnny as vocalist and bassist in Ya-Ya Littleman, a trio of
Springfieldians who reconnected in San Francisco in the ’90s and made
a good national showing for a time. Walter now resides in San Francisco
performing regularly with his group, Walty, and as a solo artist.
He’s released a couple of very fine CDs available online at
www.waltymusic.com. Catch him at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10, at the Alamo with
Mike Burnett and at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12, at the Brewhaus with Tom Irwin
and Joe Dawkins.
Next on our songwriters’ romp is Bill Mallonee,
a veteran of the Athens, Ga., scene that produced one superstar group in
REM and many other talented and active music artists. Mallonee, prolific
and good, gets credit from many critics and fans as one of the real deal
songwriters we have in our generation. Compared to the likes of Bob Dylan,
Neil Young, and John Prine, Mallonee recently garnered a mention in a Paste magazine poll listing of
the top 100 greatest living songwriters. He’s pursued a solo career
since the demise of the Vigilantes of Love, his popular indie band of the
eighties, and includes eight of his twenty-some CD releases as solo
endeavors. Reviews of his music come from Rolling
Stone, Billboard, USA Today, and other major
publications. He’s toured across the US and Europe many times. The
impressive list of those he’s performed with includes REM, Bruce
Cockburn, John Mayer, Dwight Yoakum and many others.
The local connection is Mallonee’s friend and
fan David Harmon, who first connected with the songwriter nearly 15 years
ago. He stayed in touch with Mallonee through the Internet and recently
noticed concert dates near St. Louis and Kansas City with an open spot in
between. After first considering a house concert, Harmon arranged a date at
the Caddyshack (in the south Sixth Street County Market complex) at 9 p.m.
on Sunday, Oct. 12, with Mallonee performing an intimate acoustic show on
guitar and voice, accompanied by his wife, Muriah Rose, on keyboard and
vocals.
One more to go in our songwriter run, and Otis Gibbs
is our man. Gibbs is rough and gruff, hard-hitting and sincere, singing
about things most folks would rather pretend don’t exist. It’s
not grotesque or sickening, but Gibbs concentrates on stories of struggling
humanity not popular in our current society of glistening and glorious
tales of success. A quote written by himself, about himself, explains his
place in life as a man “trying to live decently in an indecent
world.” Upcoming dates with the modern working man’s singing
champion, Billy Bragg, gives you a good idea of Gibbs’ commitment to
the workers and downtrodden of the world. Promotions of his recent record, Grandpa Walked a Picket Line, present
Gibbs as a genuine iconoclast, a planter of 7,000 trees, and a proud owner
of an FBI file as well as the creator of his earthy and gritty songs. Gibbs
performs in town as part of the continuing WUIS-sponsored, Bedrock 66 Live!
concert series on Friday, Oct. 10, along with the Boulder Acoustic Society,
at 8 p.m. in the Hoogland Center for the Arts.
Well that does it for the stories of the three
songwriters. Now for the tough part — scheduling your time to see
them.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2008.
