Ellis Paul w/ special guest Pieta Brown

Show Description

Ellis Paul, already one of the most significant stars in the modern history of folk music, celebrates the release of American Jukebox Fables (Rounder). He was a chief architect of what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, an urbane, literate folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s. His charismatic, personally authentic performance style has influenced a generation of folk-popsters away from the posturing artifice of pop, and closer towards the unpretentious realness of folk. Though he remains among the most pop-friendly of today's singer-songwriters - his songs regularly appear in hit movie and TV soundtracks - he has bridged the gulf between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger more successfully than perhaps any of his songwriting peers. Second only to Aerosmith in the amount of Boston Music Awards received (12), Ellis Paul has been skyrocketing into the public eye, and for good reason. Infused with hardball honesty and telling details, his songs merge big ideas with incidental moments, creating passionate yet literate character sketches that strike at the heart of the human condition. "Ellis Paul is a master storyteller. He combines the sensibilities of Bob Dylan, Bill Morrissey and John Gorka and delivers it with a passion that sets him apart in the company of a new breed of songwriters." --Performing Songwriter www.ellispaul.com


There is magic--a kind of sky-and-the-ground balance--a wholeness--suggested by her name that is fully reflected in singer-songwriter Pieta Brown's spiritual yet earthy music. Hypnotic and knowing, Brown sings and writes with a driven grace and deceptive simplicity, allowing space in both her lyrical constructs and delicate arrangements for words to breathe and bloom. As the eldest daughter of Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Greg Brown, Pieta displays a distinctive, charismatic voice and a familial gift for creating precise, crisply-drawn miniatures, but above and beyond that, with the release of her latest "I Never Told" (Trailer Records), she has clearly established herself as Pieta Brown has clearly established herself as an Americana renegade. Teamed with esteemed roots/Americana producer/guitarist Bo Ramsey (Lucinda Williams, Greg Brown), Pieta has crafted intensely intimate tales, each set jewel-like in shimmering, gently shifting soundscapes. "It's intoxicating to hear song after song that stirs together folk, country, and blues so thoroughly that you can't tell where one stops and the other begins…. – Baltimore City Paper www.pietabrown.com