GEORGE USHER & LISA BURNS: TOGETHER AT LAST FOR THE LAST DAY OF WINTER

By Tom Semioli

This feature appeared in No Depression, November 2014

"I feel like I'm at my own wake!" proclaims a beaming George Usher from the stage of the sanctified Mercury Lounge in lower Manhattan.

With his latest musical partner Lisa Burns by his side, along with a crack backing ensemble comprised of New York City's finest, George Usher is indeed alive and well and co-writing some of the best songs of his long and winding career. The hallowed venue is packed with fans on a cool October evening, including a new admirer - Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople fame. Fisher greeted the co-band leaders, whom he had never met, in their dressing room minutes before George and Lisa delivered a set of songs that will eventually emerge as their highly-anticipated debut duo album entitled The Last Day of Winter.  Usher, Burns, and their bassist Sal Maida –who toiled in Roxy Music and The Sparks whilst Morgan was plying his patented theatrical plinkery for the iconic Herefordshire ensemble, bestowed the gregarious Brit the title of "rock royalty" and afforded the dapper piano-man half- bows of reverence in his presence. Indeed, rock ‘n’ roll fandom knows no age limits!  Which brings us to George and Lisa…

The folksy, autumnal, and ultimately celebratory song-cycle The Last Day of Winter is not quite the standard fare for Usher, who is among America's greatest indie-pop tunesmiths and recording artists. If you are unaware of his history be advised to research Mr. Usher's extensive and impressive rock 'n' roll curricula vitae. In 2010 Mr. Usher was diagnosed with cancer - which is the underlying catalyst of Winter - though the ailment is never directly referenced. Details George, "we call it a document of hope, friendship, and defiance in the face of crippling illness and potentially the loss of life." Treatments for the disease rendered George unable to do things that most healthy folks take for granted, including the ability to play an instrument.

"It's funny with a thing like cancer," reflects George, sitting in his West Village kitchen where he and Lisa created Winter, "I did not announce it on Facebook…there are some people who are still finding out about it! Other people, when they heard about my condition, they ran for the hills…but I forgave them immediately. Yet I had other friends who stepped up…"

Among those other friends who stepped up was Lisa Burns - a distinguished New York City songstress with a notable canon that includes her 1978 MCA self-titled solo album, plus such acclaimed releases as Unadorned (2004) - which won praise from Phil Manzanera and Russell Mael among others, Channeling Mary (2011), and New Randy (2006) with Holly Anderson, among many other musical projects. Note to readers: after you research Mr. Usher, investigate Ms. Burns!

George remembers "my cancer treatments left me walking around like a zombie…but I had to somehow speak to things, so I started composing lyrics. I also write poetry, however lyrics are different, they need to be 'mathematically and rhythmically correct.' Many times I'd written lyrics and given them to musical colleagues, but they didn't know how to do the 'Bernie and Elton' thing. It is particular talent all its own to write lyrics to fit a melody that has yet to be written, and to write a melody for lyrics someone hands you."

Enter Lisa Burns, who flourishes when penning melodies and chords to a fully realized libretto. "It's butter!" responds a rather modestly ebullient Ms. Burns. "I was grateful. I have so much melody. And George's lyrics suggested melodies to me. I was like a jeweler looking through a loupe at a gem -my job was to bring out the essence of his words in song." She pauses, "actually, if you are a songwriter, and you are open to it, having lyrics already written is an easier way of working."

At regular intervals the two would meet in the Usher family kitchen to exchange lyrics and for Lisa to perform the songs she had completed in chronological order for George - who was still incapacitated for extended periods of time during the writing process, and who was not always in the best of moods. Says Lisa "I was not intimidated -I was challenged - I wanted it to be my best work. One part of me was inspired by the fact that I had great lyrics, and the other part of me was motivated by the seriousness of the situation. We never talked about the meaning behind a particular lyric - I wanted it to be fresh and objective."

Usher: "whenever she came in with a finished song - I didn't expect it to be so good!" As George's health improved and he gradually regained his motor-skills to the extent where he could sing and play with Lisa, they commenced to demoing the songs as a matter of record with no intentions of making an album. That changed, though Usher initially envisioned their work to be a Lisa Burns solo collection.  “I always heard these songs in George’s voice,” counters Lisa. Usher reveals “when we were working I had it in the back of my mind that this could be the last songs I’ll ever write.”

Because George's regimen was best served by not traveling, and as a matter of convenience, the duo recorded the album locally with an impressive cast of musical friends and family: bassist Maida (who, incidentally, is married to Burns and who reveled in the long-awaited opportunity to record with Usher); keyboardist Dylan Maida (son of Lisa and Sal); drummer Wylie Wirth (Dead Ex's); guitarists Captain Kirk Douglas (The Roots), Dave Schramm (The Schramms), Mark Sidgwick (Holly & The Italians), and Jonathan Gregg; among others. With Usher and Burns serving as their own producers, they brought Winter to resident Americana legend Eric Ambel of The Del Lords renown to render the mixing. As with all of Ambel's work, you can feel the band on record as if they were three feet away from you.

Emphasizes Lisa - "the album captures the magic of the performances - it's an extension of us playing in our living room. These songs are universal, at some point in everyone’s lives; we confront our mortality and have to deal with things like cancer. Even from the stage of the Mercury I could see people singing along to songs that they'd never heard before."

At present Usher and Burns are still shopping the album. However they have filmed a video produced by Spencer Gordon as a teaser, choosing the track "More Than That I Cannot Say." George refers to the song as the album's single, though Lisa reminds George that “45s” cease to exist in an official capacity.

Regardless, Usher can hardly contain his joy. "I can't believe I made an album with Lisa Burns!" George, who once labored at establishments known as “record stores,” proudly displays his vinyl copy of Lisa Burns' major label debut waxed during the Carter Administration, greatly admiring Ms. Burns’ sexy image which adorns the jacket, and which she still maintains.

"Wow! I love this album, and I really, really love the cover! They don't make album covers like this anymore!"

For updates regarding The Last Day of Winter release and upcoming George Usher & Lisa Burns shows, check in regularly on www.TheLastDayofWinterAlbum.Com

Video Link “More Than That I Cannot Say” : http://vimeo.com/106217636

SQUEEZING OUT SPARKS: A SOUTHERN POET SINGS FOR HER NEW YORK CITY SUPPER

 

This feature appeared on Huffington Post New York, October 2014 

“See her dark tan…those double-d implants…the sharp tip of her high-heels…it’s a drill bit! Her poppa put Penthouse parameters around what’s pretty…early and often. Splay legged women, laid back laughing…lipstick thick enough to paint the town…”Minton Sparks “Gold Digger”

She refers to herself as a “speaker –songwriter.” Where to begin with the genre defying Minton Sparks: poet, storyteller, singer, comedienne, educator, writer, activist, essayist, philosopher, painter, performance artist? If you are new to her artistry as I am, then I highly recommend Minton’s latest album, suitably entitled Gold Digger, which is out now, coupled with any one of the numerous performance vignettes which are in circulation on the video platform of your choice, or conveniently archived on www.mintonsparks.com.

Akin to such great American muso-wordsmiths as Tom Waits, Mos Def, Gil Scott-Heron, and Henry Rollins to cite a simpatico few, Ms. Sparks holds a curved mirror to society. “I love comparison to those artists…especially Tom Waits and Mos Def. Many wonderful songs need no words, and many wonderful poems are musical enough in and of themselves. I try to goose both genres by spending lots of time on each word, and then hoping for the music to deepen the emotion of the piece.”

Sparks’ looking-glass is decidedly Southern in a manner which is oft stereo-typed – yet emerges as universal.  Ms. Sparks’ distinctive appearance, delivery and overall aura are that of a semi-poor white middle-aged small-town Dixie chick. She is usually adorned in a budget floral dress, tatty high-heels, and an elegantly weathered purse dangling from the crook of her elbow. But don’t let that fool you.

The southern fried character of Minton Sparks minces no words as her drawling, deceptively intricate libretto runs the gamut of awkward family secrets, romantic yearnings, un-neighborly gossip, spiteful ruminations on lovers and other strangers, abject jealousy, unrequited and hitherto undisclosed passion, stinging social commentary, and topics that many of the so-called The Real Housewives dare not knowingly address with such depth and clarity.

Nevertheless, the decidedly Northeast hipsters in the uber-hipster East Village venue wherein I first witnessed Minton saw themselves in her outrageously understated over-the-top character portraits as evidenced by their nervous, albeit jaw- dropping laughter.  Big Apple dwellers are notorious for their superiority complex: but not so in the presence of Minton who speaks truth to power and vice versa.  Sparks could be your alcoholic aunt from Brooklyn; your boorish mother-in-law from the Upper East Side; your closeted sister who lives on the North Shore of Long Island with her rich, unsuspecting dentist husband; your nymphomaniac ex-girlfriend who moved back to Staten Island; your spinster co-worker from Astoria for whom you fetishlike fantasize over… all rendered in an infectious, irritable, and irresistible twang.

“I’m not exactly sure how I use my Southern accent…how does one use a mother tongue? It’s unconsciously bent by the land. One thing I am aware of however is how rich the language is in this part of the country in the face of an ‘ever vanilla-ing” population. For example, I remember my grandmother saying ‘if that’s not true I’ll walk into the Mississippi ‘til my hat floats! One of the reasons I love good literature is that a well told story, say, set in South Africa, or Ireland reaches through the page and moves me from afar. I can hear where the characters live in the harmonies between the words… I think people who enjoy being challenged by a story wherever they live, will respond to this performance.”

Though her new album is a full-on band project, Minton’s musical foil in concert was the solo guitar of John “JJ” Jackson, who has also collaborated with Bob Dylan (1991-97), Shelby Lynne, and Lucinda Williams among others. Jackson has been at Sparks’ side for over eight years and their interplay, which is given to the moment, is nothing short of astounding. Jackson punctuates Sparks’ every move – from her chicken strut to her sultry saunter towards her audience, to the occasional stagger – with motifs that quote jazz, blues, folk, country, rhythm and blues, and every permutation thereof.

When Minton is not officially on public display, she hosts writing and performance workshops (she is the founder of the Nashville Writing and Performance Institute and “Create Your Story” at universities and professional organizations countrywide), she creates art-poem cards and prints, and authors books – Desperate Ransom: Setting Her Family Free (2007) and White Lightening (2008), among other endeavors. She has distinguished herself at the esteemed Jonesborough National Storytelling Festival and the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center. Sparks’ recorded canon, which spans five albums, is also quite impressive and includes contributions from Waylon Jennings, Keb Mo, and Chris Thile among others.

“I see people in tears all the time…last night in Augusta a woman came up to me and said ‘did we grow up together? You have no idea how much this show meant to me and my husband…I tried to tell him about my family life, but this told him more than I’ve been able to…”

Perhaps Broadway will beckon for this Southern bellwether?

EDWARD ROGERS: ROCK ‘N ROLL NEVER FORGETS IN NEW YORK CITY

 

This feature appeared on Huffington Post New York, July 2014

"As this album was coming together it became apparent to me that it had a 1970s theme to it... when I learned that Kevin Ayers passed away I got a hold of some of the last words he'd written which were 'you don't shine if you don't burn...' After that, the entire process of making KAYE fell into place. Like a puzzle..."

To coin an angular phrase worthy of the above referenced legend, Edward Rogers is New York City rock 'n' roll's "Ayers apparent."

For many of us, to traverse the streets of New York City in the present tense, especially in singer -- songwriter Edward Rogers' lower Manhattan Astor Place neighborhood, is to dance among the ghosts of artists priced out of the environs, the soulless steel and glass structures wherein romantic tenements rued; the rock clubs, mom and pop establishments and record shops replaced by telecommunications outlets and pricey boutiques. To be a rock 'n' roll practitioner in this strange place is to be an iconoclast and a dreamer -- like Edward Rogers, and his mentor, Kevin Ayers.

For those of you, and there are understandably many, who are unaware of the life and work of Kevin Ayers, he was among the most significant British pop experimental recording artists who emerged from rock's hallowed Canterbury Scene which flourished in the late 1960s-70s. An eccentric, prolific enigma, Mr. Ayers was a founding member of Soft Machine, and collaborator with a who's who list of icons you may have heard of: Brian Eno, John Cale, Phil Manzanera, and Mike Oldfield -- among scores of others whom I'm sure my readers will admonish me for not citing. Ayers' imprint on indie and mainstream rock artists of the past twenty years is indelible -- yet fame was not in the cards for Kevin - not that I think he cared much.

Edward Rogers was born in Birmingham, England. His parents pulled up stakes, and Edward, and migrated to the United States just as the British rock world was undergoing a historic transformation with Jeff Beck, The Who, Cream, PP Arnold, The Nice, Manfred Mann -- all of whom Edward saw on brief summer trips back to his homeland. "It was the worse time ever" recalls Rogers "everything was happening in the UK! And I was in Rhode Island, of all bloody places." However there were perks to being a Brummie in America. "I didn't realize that having slightly longer hair would have such a strong impression -- especially on the ladies! They constantly inquired if I knew John, or George, or Ringo, or Paul. It brought me out of a shell, though the bad news was that I became a threat to the jocks and the straight-laced establishment."

Luckily for Edward his family eventually moved a bit south to New York City at the dawn of the punk revolution. When a rocker approached him and declared "you're going to be a drummer in my band" his life changed. Rogers gladly tossed aside his well-paying law firm job "which financed my velvets and satins, and then some. From then on I copied everything Clem Burke (Blondie) did!" Behind the kit with such bands as the Overnights and Route 66, Edward revels in telling war stories of early, raucous gigs with the Smithereens, beating out the Stray Cats at a Long Island Battle of the Bands contest, and his shock at gazing out into the audience of the legendary Kenny's Castaways on Bleeker Street (which is now a sports bar) one bleary evening only to realize that Mick Jagger and Al Pacino were fixated on him.

Though an accident essentially ended his career as a drummer, Edward was reborn as a singer -- which is his natural habitat -- Rogers belongs under the spotlight, not behind it. As was his fate, Edward met the right people at the right time while he "never worked and studied so hard in my life" to become a vocalist. He served a musical conductor for a bona fide (and thankfully still functioning) New York City rock institution -- The Losers Lounge -- founded by Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs, Kevin Ayers, Ryan Adams, Martha Wainwright, among others) which is a loose assemblage of musicians who tribute iconic artists ranging from Neil Diamond to The Cure. After his bravura performance of The Zombies "I Love You," fellow Lounge performer Pierce Turner hugged him and pronounced "now you are a singer -- now you are one of us!"

Turner's proclamation was seconded when Edward passed an audition before his heroes Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), Clem Burke, and Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith Group), among others for a Marc Bolan and T. Rex tribute. "When Tony looked at me in the eye and said 'you're in mate' I delved deeper into my singing lessons." Edward's progression as songwriter arrived at the chance meeting of George Usher (The Decoys, Beat Rodeo, The Bongos, House of Usher) with whom he still collaborates.

In addition to two highly acclaimed albums as a member of the Bedsit Poets with Amanda Thorpe and Mac Randall (The Summer That Changed, Rendezvous), Rogers' solo cannon is quite impressive. Sunday Fables (2004), You Haven't Been Where I've Been (2008) displayed promise aplenty. Yet Rogers' engaging Sparkle Lane (2010) collection, which drew inspiration from his Birmingham cultural and familial roots and emigration to the USA, and the glam moxie of Porcelain (2011) which was fueled by the artist's love, surrender, and devotion to all things early 1970s Brit rock - is the stuff of observational genius in the tradition of Ray Davies, Ian Hunter, and Colin Blunstone -- the latter two of whom are now Edward's beloved colleagues. "Music has been wonderful to me -- the people who I was fans of are now friends of mine."

To converse with Edward about his new album KAYE is to witness a man on a mission. "I dedicated this album to Kevin Ayers because he is one of those people who have not received his just rewards. Some of it was his own fault," Edward continues, "he certainly had a self-destructive aspect to his personality and life. Still, he was one of the great songwriters of his generation with an amazing body of work -- he deserves to be out there!"

Produced by Don Piper, whom Edward reveals "pointed me in the right direction nine out of ten times," the assemblage of musicians on KAYE created the perfect storm to bring Rogers' vision to fruition. KAYE is a fierce song-cycle with tender moments tempered by sonic outbursts which ebb and flow from track to track. Much praise must be afforded Rogers' cadre of co-players: guitarists Piper, James Mastro (Ian Hunter, Bongos) Pete Kennedy (The Kennedys) Don Fleming (Velvet Monkeys); bassist Sal Maida (Roxy Music); keyboardist Joe McGinty, and cameos by George Olson on trumpet, and legendary downtown fashion denizen backing-vocalists Tish & Snooky, among others.

"Street Fashion" evokes the trashy art-rock stuff of bassist Maida's former ensemble. As is the duty of many an artist, Rogers spits out truth to power in the scathing "What's Happened to the News Today" -- to which Edward lectures to this writer "where do the Kardashians even merit a mention in my life!" Says Edward of the track "My Street" -- "I wanted to write a song like Ray Davies -- I was thinking 'Dead End Street' as I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life on Edgewater Road in Birmingham - many of my friends did." The maddest cut on KAYE stems from a late night jam which was edited from 28:00 to 8:00 entitled "Peter Pan's Dream" wherein McGinty, Mastro, and Maida tear into a bitches brew of angular counter-melodies as Rogers croons melancholy over the mayhem -- "we cut it thinking how would Kevin Ayers would sound if he were alive today."

Edward's rendition of Kevin Ayers' "After the Show" remains faithful to the original -- as it should be -- though Mr. Ayers would have welcomed Tish & Snooky's backing vocal support which quotes the legendary Thunderthighs (Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," Mott the Hoople's "Roll Away the Stone") in spirit and execution. The title track, with its waltz groove, intones Ayers' dying mantra "you don't shine if you don't burn... you don't shine if you don't burn" -- a lesson rock 'n' roll singer Edward Rogers imparts to all of us by way of Kevin Ayers throughout KAYE.

KAYE by Edward Rogers is out now on ZIP Records.