Leonard Cohen Cover Night At Radio Bean, September 21, 2013

Words by Tim Lewis.

I just got back from seeing music at Radio Bean. Apparently, some of Burlington’s finest musicians decided to celebrate Leonard Cohen‘s birthday today.

It was a long day at work. I got out at 5:30, and after sitting on the couch for a couple of hours, dragged myself up, and took the walk to the Bean. The rain was lightly falling as I slid into the coffee house to the gentle and powerful sound of Joe Redding. I caught a couple of songs, did not know any of them, but really liked them. They were really good songs,, and his deep voice and steady guitar sounded great. Granted, there were a lot of people talking, who, unfortunately, missed out on something subtle, strong, and nice.

Next up, was The Peasant Dramatic. I think it was the some singer/guitar player that played with Hana Zara last time, but I could be wrong. He played guitar and sang Everybody Knows, Lullaby, then followed by a great song I did not know. There were a lot of songs I did not know for the evening, but I liked them all.

Aaron Flinn followed with more unfamiliar, yet intrinsic musical flowings. He played the first one mostly straight, but threw in a few shots to the top of the neck of the guitar in between chords, adding the extra drive. I missed the title of the next one, which was as good as the first. He closed with a killer Tower Of Song.

Up next was a singer/guitar player that I’ve seen several times, but am not sure of his name. From the lineup, I think he is Erich Pachner. Anyway, he played very downbeat, maybe dark Americana, yet subtly driving, in that Leonard way deep;y cool songs. It’s too bad most of the audience talked over it. I had to put in some effort to listen, but there was a wonderful coolness to the songs he played.

Lee Anderson came up and read some Leonard lyrics.

Steve Hartmann followed by singing and playing electric guitar, and setting up some fun loops and effects. His only song was Hallelujah, and he sang it quiet, and he sang it loud, It was masterfully done. Sometimes I feel I can describe music with words, and sometimes you just have to be here to hear it. This was one of those songs.

Lee Anderson came up and read some Leonard lyrics.

Hana Zara came on and took a moderately noisy room to the place you could hear a pin fall. When she plays her songs, the lyrics are so visual, so her style nicely matched Leonard’s words. Gypsy Wife was a nice journey. Suzanne lulled the room to near immaculate silence. She introduced Because Of as a song sung by a young girl written about an old man. I was note for note entranced.

Lee Anderson came up and read some Leonard lyrics.

Ryan Miller followed with another song I did not know, but thoroughly enjoyed. He sang and played electric guitar, and had that nice Cohen slow feel. He followed with a sweet First We Take Manhattan. He switched to a laptop Casio keyboard and gadgets for the next two. Again, I did not know them, but they were darkly nice.

Lee Anderson came up and read some Leonard lyrics.

A mini Weefolkestra followed. Joe Adler sang and played guitar. Eric Segalstad played mandolin, Aya Inoue sang, Dan Daniels (?0 played stand up bass. Johnnie Day Durand brought out the soaring high end, on saw. They sounded great together, and played a rousing version of (song titles approximate) Dance Me To The End Of Love, Amen, House Of Mistery (Nancy?), Famous Blue Raincoat, Who Shall I say…Is Calling (?)

Song titles aside, it was a fun night of great songs, played uniquely by great musicians. What a lovely way to spend a rainy Saturday.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.