The most surprising thing I learned as a house concert host is how remarkably small the music community is.
Back in 2004, when I began booking shows on a regular basis, I met dozens of singer/songwriters and acoustic musicians who all seemed to be traveling the same path, playing the same venues and festivals up and down the west coast.
Their styles might have been divergent, but what they all had in common—aside from being ridiculously gifted musicians—is that they seemed to be fans of each other’s work. From one house concert to the next, I could see the connections being formed and have been lucky enough to witness the truly inspired collaborations that ensued (Paul Brill’s band backing ambeR Rubarth at Heidi’s house concert last May, for example).
So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that my friends Brian Gore and Susan Z were teaming up to play as a duo at Acoustic Vortex. But I was.
I knew Brian best from his work as founder of the renowned International Guitar Night and had (mistakenly) pigeonholed him as a virtuoso solo fingerstyle guitarist with a knack for phenomenal finger-tapping techniques. I knew Susan Z as the pop/rock songwriter with the soulful voice, Sheryl Crow sing-along choruses, and McCartneyesque chord progressions.
In short, I’d been a fan of them both. Separately. I didn’t know they knew each other. Then I got an Evite from Bruce Victor and the Vortexers announcing a show that would present Brian and Susan as a duo—and I had to rethink my preconceived ideas of who these two musicians were.
I love it when I have to do that. I love being surprised. I love having my expectations subverted. It doesn’t happen often. But it should. I mean, isn’t that goal of art? To show us something we can’t see on our own?
Kudos to Brian and Susan for joining forces in service of these songs. I’m a fan of performing songwriters, for sure. But I’m not one of those purists who thinks a song loses something in the translation if it’s not sung by the person who was inspired by the muse. Sometimes the interpretation takes the song somewhere even better—Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower” and Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” come to mind.
Hearing Z sing Brian’s “Zen Scream” gave me new appreciation for both her voice and his songwriting. Take a listen to this inspired collaboration in the YouTube video above and tell me what you think. Many thanks to Nusi Dekker for capturing the performance on video.
