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25 May, 2009
John Egenes CD Release -review 9 May 09
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As has been mentioned earlier on this website somewhere, Mr John Egenes really is a slice of Americana in Dunedin. He comes from a world somewhat removed from our own but his music and ideas translate well. That is the key to his music, his country/folk/rock mix. I've probably said this somewhere else but country music is universal. Like folk music, country music began by putting basically stories and yarns to a tune. This night at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers exemplified it.

It is heartening to see the crowd that was there that night. It quickly got busy, as Chicks is a rather small place. An interesting thing of note is that projected on the backdrop of the stage was a sepia film of traveling slowly down a local road. It fitted well the tone and mood of the evening. First off, John Egenes got up himself and played a few solo numbers from his original set that is now contained within the album (Up For Air) of which the release gig was for. This got the audience in a sweet contemplative mood. Egenes has a real American twang going which can seem harsh to some ears and soothing to others. I normally find an American South twang coarse to my ears but in the context of country music it suits the wide open spaces and stories that it is about. He never seems to really hurry any of his songs and just has that easygoing way about him.

Then Anna Bowen (fiddle) and Mike Moroney (acoustic guitar) got up and played a few songs with him. Bowen and Moroney make up the duo Catgut and Steel that can be seen about performing It adds another dimension to a melody when one guitar is picking and the other strumming and with Mike up there with him it just did. The fiddle is such a ubiquitous and useful instrument, especially in the world of folk and country where different versions of it can be found in cultures all over the world. In this case it added at times a cheerful air to the music on hand but then in others a more sorrowful note.

Then Marcel Rodeka (of Mother Goose fame) got up behind the drums and Robert Burns, a colleague of Johns, picked up his bass and the band was set and really got the place rollicking. With John reverting between semi-acoustic and electric guitar, and a bass guitar, semi-acoustic, fiddle and drums made for an interesting mix that was something more akin to the Fea St Hustle than anything else. I would love to buy an album of the stuff they were putting out once they were all on that small stage together. Chicks does have rather a small stage and so when you have 5 musos, their instruments, mic stands, amps and leads etc made for a tight fit at times. Rob Burns was hidden almost completely behind the amp on the stand to the right hand side as he had his back to the wall. But that is just what comes with the territory. Chicks is a good venue and really can cater for small intimate gigs when you don’t expect vast crowds, as opposed to the great hulks that are the Regent and Sammy’s.

The music worked really well and there was space to get up and have a bit of a jiggle about. It worked rather well. The music came thick and fast, as I have said earlier sounding like Fea St Hustle, so it was a mix of country/rock/pop. When you introduce some of the regular laid back ‘freight train’ rhythms of country with traditional rock and pop elements you do get a good sound, think stuff like The Eagles and aspects of The Byrds. So many genres overlap nowadays that you can't really call something just rock or just pop or just country. It was a good night of music and collaboration.

AK
Posted by scott

Posted by scott
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