Jason Myles Goss @ Club Passim 12/9/09
I am what you’d call a Jason Myles Goss “enthusiast”. Over the past two and a half years I’ve watched him perform more times than I can count on both my hands, seen multitudes of opening and closing acts, bought CDs to blast in my car, to send across the country, to gush over. If there are two things I’ll ever tell you, one of them will definitely be: “Listen to my friend Jason. His music will change your life.” It certainly changed mine.
The weather this past Wednesday was pretty gross, but considering we were in Massachusetts, it wasn’t all that surprising. It certainly wasn’t as cold as it could have been, and by the time we walked into the Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center, I was more interested by the prospect of an evening full of good music than bitching about how cold my hands were. Passim is one of those places that feels unchanged by time, and walking in there after a six month absence felt more like sliding into a really comfortable pair of shoes than anything else. Warm and comfortable (complete with brand new chairs, delivered that day!), it was an added bonus that the room was packed.
Laura Coretese, who was releasing her newest live EP that night, took the stage first with Hanneke Cassel and Natalie and Brittany Haas. While I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of bluegrass, I’ve never actually listened enough to try to gain a real enjoyment from it. Laura definitely changed that. During my favorite moment of the set, Laura left the stage and Hanneke, Natalie and Brittany played ‘Leila’s Birthday’, a song written for Hanneke’s sister. It was stunning. Their last song was a tune called “Greasy Coat,” which ended up being far lovelier than its title might suggest.
There’s a different sort of expectation when you’ve seen a performer a hundred times, something deeper and more powerful; an overwhelming hopefulness that their raw talent and charm will convince everyone in the audience of how amazing they are. Jason didn’t disappoint. Joined on stage by the dapperly dressed Austin Nevins and Zack Hickman , the trio opened their set with “Put A Record On.” Some songs just sound better played live, and the boys proved that that song is one of them. Despite a minor flub in “Peace Of Mind,” their second tune, the band was off to a roaring start. They continued on with “Brooklyn”, the ever-heroic “Chester Copperpot,” and a new song I’d heard before but hadn’t really gotten a chance to appreciate. Jason’s crowd banter was spot-on, an easy mixture of playfulness and earnest plugging. He slipped from teasing his band-mates to informing the crowd that his latest album, A Plea For Dreamland, would be available for streaming on Pandora starting on the fifteenth without losing his charm for a second.
After continuing with with “Coffee & Wine—always a crowd-pleaser—Jason got to my favorite of the evening, “Hospital Shirt,” another new one he’d premiered at the Lizard Lounge a few months previously. Despite the richness of his voice, there’s something completely haunting about this song, especially in the lyrics: I may be stuck in this bed/but I’m a stand-up guy. Jason is self-deprecating in his music. He’s genuine, but he’s also willing to poke fun of himself, too. This song in particular is all about the shortcomings and inadequacies of a man in a no-win situation, and despite the obvious negativity, Jason’s candor carried the audience along. Following that, there was “Mississippi Red” (the song famously about pole-dancing), “A Plea For Dreamland.”
The official set ended with a raucous rendition of “Dive Bars,” another one of those songs that’s just begging to be played live and was only outdone by the encore, where Laura joined the boys on stage for two songs. “Night Train to Chelsea” and a surprising, fun cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender.” Choosing to go out with a cover could be a risky move, but Jason and friends proved that they still know exactly what they’re doing, since it turned out to be a great cap to an already satisfying evening.
– Marianna C. Terzakis (follow on Twitter: @mcterzakis)
